What has Angie Dickinson been doing? I heard she has been caring for a sister with Alzheimer's.
—Wanda E., Iowa
Dickinson's older sister was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the 1980s, but the 70-year-old actress now spends most of her time caring for her adult daughter who is autistic. Leah Nikki was born in 1966 to Dickinson and her then-husband, Burt Bacharach, and was diagnosed with the disorder as a toddler. Dickinson turned down roles that required her to leave her daughter. When the television series Police Woman came along, it fit Dickinson's criteria, and the Hollywood sex symbol soon became a television sex symbol in her 40s. Motherhood always was her priority, though, and starring in Police Woman meant too much time away from Leah. She chose not to renew her contract for the series, which ran for four seasons. Dickinson has taken small parts in recent movies, including Pay It Forward and Ocean's Eleven.
