Actors very often are people who think it's always about 'me,' and I can see why! No one else is going to support you or say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry about that,' or, 'Here, let me give you a job.' It doesn't happen that way. You can see why performers get very self-absorbed.
When was the last time you saw a musical about people at war with each other?
What musical performers bring to straight characterizations is that physical flexibility that comes with knowing your body so well. A lot of actors are terribly awkward. Terribly. And I think it's so important for them, when they're young, to work on their physical selves.
There is something about sex that always brings out the funny in me. I think it's because we make such fools of ourselves over it.
If you're going to write about your life, you must write about your life.
Being the house ethnic was destroying my life and my sense of myself, because I had been consigned to play every dusky maiden you have ever seen in your life in movies.
I - my experience was really no different from any other immigrant that came to this country. It was rough.
Most people don't know that dancing auditions, you learn the steps right now.
I love Hallmark movies because they make movies that you don't see anymore... and at a time when there is so much evil in the world, it's kind of nice to be able to retreat to something like a Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.
I grew up as a child who felt she was very inferior to everyone else.
I wore so much rubber when I was at MGM, I bumped into the wall once, and I ricocheted.
I was brought up on animal grease.
Smell the roses. Smell the coffee. Whatever it is that makes you happy.
I played a Siamese girl from Thailand. I played an Arabian girl. I did a lot of American Indians. I never, ever was able to do a part without assuming some kind of accent.
I knew what my scripts would say before I opened them: 'Enter Conchita.' I played handmaidens, Indian squaws, and Mexican dancers.
When I was girl, you could still get certain jobs if you didn't have a diploma.
Elvis was a sweet darling, shy fellow, but he was really boring.
I was born in Puerto Rico - I used to sit in the sun until I looked like a piece of bacon. It's a wonder now that I don't look like an old wallet. I'm a very fortunate person.
Oh, I think Scarlett Johansson is a terrific actress. I think she's just marvelous.
'America' took at least five days of actual filming.
My idol when I was a kid was Elizabeth Taylor.
I had no role models from my own community - there was no such thing. Earlier on, there were people like Dolores Del Rio, but I was too young for that - that was before me. There was really nobody out there.
It's not easy having a partnership in this business.
I love being onstage, I love getting applause, and I love the love that comes across the footlights. It's so much a part of what I do and what I've done most of my life.
'LIFE Magazine' decided to do a story about a young actress in Hollywood in 1954. And I made the cover. And I remember that the fellow who was doing the story on me said, 'Listen, kid, I just want you to know, if Eisenhower gets a cold, you're off the cover.'
I'm so damn lucky to still be here at 85. If I get a hangnail, I don't dare complain! Life is good. I wake up humming.
I can't dwell on past mistakes.
Doing 'The Electric Company' was the most fun ever.
Doing 'Life Without Makeup' onstage is what inspired me to do a book in the first place.
I have stamina, and I have energy.
I'm one of the happiest people I know. I truly am. And it's genuine.
Beyonce moves a lot. She's astonishing, dances and sings at the same time. She is buff.
I was not treated like a serious young actress, and that was very hard. It sent me into psychotherapy, which is one of the smartest things I ever did. It taught me that I had to find value in myself.
The thing I get the most that I really love is that people don't so much mention films I've been in or shows I've been in as they say, instead, 'I love you. I just love your perseverance.' That really pleases me.
I think Jennifer Lopez is a phenom. And as far as I'm concerned, she's really a very smart businesswoman.
My video has a lot to do with the inside of a woman. Usually, exercise videos refer to exteriors only. They never talk to a woman where she lives - in her heart and soul. I do that at the beginning and end of mine.
The reason there weren't any, I am surmising, is that a lot of Latin kids, Latino kids, in those days didn't have the money to take those kind of classes.
I'm one of those performers who has done just about everything except juggle, and I'm working on that.
When I was a little girl, there was no Variety Latino. When I was a little girl, there was no nothing. There were very few roles for people like myself.
Elvis was really sweet and kind of bashful, but he didn't have a whole lot to say.
I am the happiest Hispanic I've ever met. Truly.
My first American experience was in the harbor of New York City when I saw that amazing big, tall lady. I remember thinking, 'Oh my goodness, a lady runs this country.'
If you saw me in 'The King and I,' I had that angelic, virginal face.
Let's face it. How often do you see an Asian face in films and television? They are practically invisible. Now and then, you will get one, and, interestingly, he gets the role of a scientist. Isn't that interesting?
I've always had this image of this strong, sprightly person who is undaunted by anything; on the contrary, I was one of the shyest, most unsure people you ever met in your life. But I have one very specific quality: I'm plucky. I really am. I would say that's a perfect description of my personality.
Any character who had dark skin, I got all those parts. I could play a Polynesian, East Indian princess, whatever.
My husband and I were very different: I'm spontaneous and emotional; I'm loud - he was exactly the opposite. But you need to be flexible.
You can wish to have an Oscar someday or some other award, but Life Achievement? You don't see yourself that way.
I'm proud of me.
