Veteran actress Shirley Knight has thrown herself into her role as Faith Ford's mom in the new CBS series Maggie Winters to ease the pain over her husband's tragic death. Playwright John Hopkins, 67, fell at their new Woodland Hill, Calif. home, hit his head and was found face down in the swimming pool, Shirley tells GLOBE in an exclusive interview.
"Ever since John passed away, I felt like a part of me died," reveals the 61-old-year star who played Helen Hunt's mom in As Good As It Gets. I just didn't see a way out of the sadness and could barely go on, but luckily my three daughters and my acting career helped pull me through the rough tims. The week after John's death, I was on the Maggie Winters set rehearsing. The job helps me forget the sadness."
Shirley, who copped Oscar nominations for the 1960 flick The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and 1962's Sweet Bird of Youth, still has trouble talking about John's death in July.
"My daughter Sophie and I came home from shopping when I heard a terrible scream," says Shirley, her voice choked with emotion. "Sophie found John floating dead in the pool." Although both Shirley and Sophie frantically tried to revive him with mouth to mouth, it was too late. The mother and daughter were guilt-stricken, blaming themselves for not coming home sooner. Later they learned they probably couldn't have saved him anyway.
British-born John, who had suffered from Parkinson's a potentially deadly nearvous system disease, "hit his head on the side and died from severe head trauma", says Shirley. The death of the playwright, best known for writing the James Bond thriller Thunderball, is the second tragedy to plague the actress' otherwise happy marriage. Just months after the couple said "I do" in 1972, John's 9-year-old son from his first marriage was struck and killed by a car.
Now, Shirley will honor her beloved mate's last wish and bury him next to his son in Hadstock, a village outside Cambridge, England. Ironically, the last play John wrote for Shirley was called Losing Time, based on an abandoned wife's journey toward self-discovery. Now as she struggles to make it through each day without him, she carries on at work and finds comfort in her daughters Sophie, Justine Hopkins and Kaitlin Passer. She is also strenghtened by John's presence, which surrounds her in their new home.
"This house was our dream- the gardens, the study, even the swimming pool," says Shirley. "Even though I can't see John when I wake up in the morning, I can always feel him here with me." MARLISE KAST and PETE TRUJILLO

The article is accompanied by a black and white photo of Shirley and her late husband John, and Shirley hugging Faith Ford- Shirley was shattered by hubby John's death, but hugs costar Faith Ford are healing her heartache.