The Princess and the Cabbie is a 1981 television movie aired on CBS on 3 November 1981 about a young woman who struggles with dyslexia. The film stars Valerie Bertinelli as Joanna James, an heiress who is sheltered from the real world. One day she meets literary cab driver, Joe Holiday (Robert Desiderio), who references Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, William Carlos Williams, Albert Einstein, Gustave Flaubert and Agatha Christie. Also starring is Shelley Long. After leaving her book in his cab, Holiday gets to know her and discovers Joanna's secret: she can't read, write, or even remember telephone numbers or directions home. Determining that she is dyslexic, Holiday begins to help her gain independence.