Just A Minute With: Actress/health guru Marilu Henner

Actress Marilu Henner has just released an eighth book on health and diet with the actress photographed by Jeff Katz from Corbis Agency in an undated shot.

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Actress Marilu Henner has spent about 35 years in various TV and film roles and written eight health and fitness books but this year she has taken on a new role -- baddie.

As an actress, Henner is best known for playing Elaine Nardo in the TV series Taxi but she has also appeared in 36 movies and 6 Broadway shows. She recently competed on the TV show "The Celebrity Apprentice."

Henner, 56, found a new outlet 10 years ago when she started writing health books, expounding the virtues of a non-dairy diet and exercise. Her latest book, "Wear Your life Well: Use What You Have To Get What You Want," was released this month.

Henner, who has been married three times and has two sons, spoke to Reuters about healthy living, being a baddie -- and her extraordinary memory, which allows her to recall what she was doing on any given day in the past: Q: What got you interested in health and diet?

A: "When I was 17 my father died unexpectedly of a heart attack, aged 52. I ate my feelings and ballooned to 174 pounds. (she now weighs 120 pounds). A few years later my mother, who took the stress into her body, got rheumatoid arthritis and died at 58. I saw my mother -- who used to be a dance teacher -- crippled with arthritis and lose her leg from it. I decided to eat up information and became a student of health."

Q: You run an online program? (www.marilu.com)

A: "After my second book I created a Web site to help other people and each week I create a new class. This new book deals with all the issues that everyone struggles with -- facing your fears, self-sabotage. It is not just about the food you eat but about your whole life."

Q: Why non-dairy?

A: "All dairy is supposed to do is to turn a 50 pound calf into a 300 pound cow in 6 months. It is breast milk for a huge bovine animal. Yet it is now a staple in every dish we make. There is a huge dairy lobby in Congress. You'd never make cheese out of the breast milk of your neighbor but you are sucking from the udder of a cow you don't know. Nothing changed my life more than giving up dairy products."

Q: What acting roles have you had recently?

A: "I have a big Lifetime movie coming up this spring or fall called "Deadly Suspicion." For the first time I get to play a villain and did I have fun with that character? Villains are so much fun. I think the director wanted to take a risk and cast someone like America's sweetheart."

Q: What is it about your memory?

A: "I have a very bizarre memory. I was 21 years old before I realized not everyone had this. I'd just name off a date and know what happened then. It was something I could always do and a natural thing for me although it is probably some kind of brain gift. But it is something I also cultivated."

Q: Is it useful?

A: "It's great. You never lose an argument because you can play it back with specifics. It's also helpful with lines."

Q: What advice do you have for newcomers to the industry?

A: "The best thing is to know your instrument and develop it. Make yourself into the best version of yourself because that is who you are competing with. Train -- singing, dancing, voice lessons -- it is all about teachers and homework for the rest of your life and it is amazing how it will pay off for you. It is hard work to be good at anything."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Sophie Hardach)