Angie Dickinson

The acclaimed actress, known for her starring roles in Rio Bravo and Police Woman, had a role that she loved for 40 years: being a mom to her daughter, Lea Nikki.

Born in 1966, Lea Nikki (known to all as Nikki) was three months premature and no one expected her to survive. But she was a fighter, and three months later, she finally weighed 5 pounds and was able to leave the hospital.

As a child, Nikki had a hard time coping with difficulties and would obsess over many things. Angie was a devoted mother who gave up roles so she could stay home to care for her daughter. But as Nikki got older, she seemed to get more unstable. That’s when her dad, Burt Bacharach, talked Angie into putting Nikki into an institution to get her the help she needed.

Since they didn’t know that Nikki had Asperger’s Syndrome, they couldn’t possibly know that this treatment was wrong for Nikki. She was hospitalized for 10 years—and it only seemed to make things worse.

Nikki was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s at UCLA in 2000. But by then, many things were disturbing her, including loud noises and terrifying fears. Angie realized that she needed to stop working and start spending time with her daughter. So, for the next few years, she and Nikki traveled and made precious memories together.

Sadly, in 2007, Nikki died by suicide. Now 92 years old, Angie says that she’s glad she has so many wonderful memories of Nikki, and that her daughter found peace.

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