my home life was not happening. Nobody knew anything. I didn't have a social life. I did my work, I went home." The day after Baxter discussed Birney on the Today Show, she traveled to Chicago to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show for further discussion of the topics covered in her memoir. Winfrey's staff had arranged for Family Ties co-star Michael Gross to surprise Baxter on camera. Gross confirmed the assumption that Baxter had made throughout their seven years of working on the sitcom, that no one connected with the series had known or suspected that Baxter's husband was abusing her at the time. Gross was affectionate with Baxter on camera and expressed sorrow that she had endured such an ordeal for so long. Birney vehemently denied the claims that he had abused Baxter. Health issues Baxter became a vegetarian because she wanted to. Baxter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. After treatment, she made a full recovery. Filmography Award nominations Books References External links 1947 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American women writers Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American lesbian actresses American lesbian writers American memoirists American television actresses American women memoirists American women television producers American voice actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Hollywood High School alumni Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni Lesbian memoirists LGBT people from California LGBT television producers Living people People from Greater Los Angeles Television producers from California Writers from Los Angeles