She prefers a classic touch to go with some dear friends

Stage and screen veteran Carol Kane’s quirky comedic roles have been as varied as the shrewish crone in “The Princess Bride” and the Emmy-winning part she’s probably most widely known for: daffy Simka in the television sitcom “Taxi.” Kane’s most recent stage turn is as villainous mistress Madame Morrible in the open-ended run of “Wicked” at the Pantages Theatre, the role she played on Broadway and in the musical’s national tour. She shared her pop-culture tastes with Lynne Heffley.

TV PICKS: Rosie O’Donnell on “The View” and Turner Classic Movies -- I look for directors Martin Scorsese, William Wyler, Mike Nichols, Hal Ashby, Fred Zinnemann, Francois Truffaut, Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, Howard Hawks and John Huston.

IN HEAVY ROTATION ON iPOD: Tracy Chapman, Buena Vista Social Club, Cyndi Lauper -- especially her classic pop songs album, “At Last” -- Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

SOUNDTRACK FOR COMMUTE: Tom Waits’ “Alice”; Paul Simon’s “Hearts and Bones.”

IN THE NETFLIX QUEUE: Films by John Cassavetes: “Love Streams,” “Gloria,” “Opening Night,” “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie,” “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” “Husbands” and “Faces.”

BEDSTAND LIBRARY: “Surrender the Pink” by Carrie Fisher, “Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay” by Nancy Milford, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”

by Michael Chabon, “The Plot

Against America” by Philip Roth, “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan

Didion, “In the Moment: My Life as

an Actor” by Ben Gazzara, and

plays by Beth Henley and Eugene O’Neill.

TOP INTERNET DESTINATIONS: Architectural and home design sites, animal rescue sites.

CULTURAL ADDICTION: Mid-20th century Modern homes and furniture.

GUILTY PLEASURE: The support, generosity, honesty and brilliance of my dear friends.

SECRET WEAPON FOR NAVIGATING THE CULTURE: My mother, who’s a huge reader.