Swoosie Stars In <i>Love & Money</i>

Success--awards (including 2 Tonys), Broadway hits, a long-running TV show--has not jaded Swoosie Kurtz. She still loves to act so much, she told CBS Morning News Co-Anchor Mark McEwen, that "It's pretty much all I do. Work is fun for me."

In the new CBS sitcom Love & Money, Kurtz plays Effie Conklin, the champagne-swilling wife of a billionaire. They live in a deluxe New York City apartment building with their two daughters and son.

"Love and Money is like a sexy version of Upstairs Downstairs," says Kurtz. "I'm married to Nicholas Conklin, played by former M*A*S*H star David Ogden Stiers. And in the show, their daughter falls in love with the super. Effie is happy for her daughter, but her husband completely objects. Effie actually has a slight crush on the super herself. She appreciates the young hunk her daughter is in love with."

Kurtz loves playing Effie, she adds.

"She's one of those amazing women who is the engine of the family," says Kurtz. "Her medicated haze is her way of going, 'Oh, you can say anything in front of me because I'm not really hearing it,' yet, she doesn't miss a thing."

"What I love about the showÂ…is that their money doesn't distance them from reality," says Kurtz. "They still have to get along with their children. They still have to get along with their spouses. There are real things going on with the show."

Kurtz studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and won two Tony Awards for her Broadway performances in The House of Blue Leaves and Fifth of July. On television she starred on Sisters and has appeared in ER and Suddenly Susan. Her film credits include Dangerous Liaisons and Liar, Liar.

But what's with the name?

Kurtz's distinctive first name comes from the B-17 "The Swoose," flown by her father, Col. Frank Kurtz - the most decorated Air Force pilot of World War II.

Love and Money premiered October 8th, and airs on Fridays at 8:30, ET, on CBS.