Loretta Swit

My parents didn't want me to go into show business. They were afraid of what would happen if I didn't succeed. They wanted me to get married and have babies. I never saw marriage and family in my life.

I have certain strong interests that fill my life as well.

My first thought in life was wanting to be an actor. I was in ballet slippers and on pointe as soon as I could walk. I always wanted to be an actress, not a mother or housewife.

Hot Lips changed a lot in eleven years. Initially, Margaret Houlihan behaved as though a man were the only thing that could complete her life, and she didn't see what richness her life contained. She gained a lot of self-esteem through the years, and she came to realize that what she did, what she offered, was valuable.

So much of life is luck. One day you make a right turn and get hit by a car. Turn left and you meet the love of your life. I think I made the correct turn.

M*A*S*H offered real characters and everybody identified with them because they had such soul. The humor was intelligent and it always assumed that you had an intellect.

Shirley Valentine is a beautiful character and so well written. What Shirley speaks and thinks is so logical.

Animals are thinking, feeling creatures. They're sensitive.

The pursuit of happiness is in our Constitution. We're all entitled to have the best we can.

When I left the house to become an actress, my mother literally flung her body across the door and said, 'You're killing me!' It was a very strict household. That can be okay, but there was also no nourishment, either.

I just can't remember a time when I wasn't involved with animals and wildlife.

If you're 90 and look good in a mini-skirt, go for it. What is 'age appropriate'? Such nonsense. My mother lived to 106, so what's middle-age? Seventy is the new 50.