When I was about 8, I used to go into one of the rooms in the mansion, and I would open a magazine like the 'Ladies Home Journal,' and I would see these characters on the pages and then become them, talking back and forth.

In the 1940s, I was doing something called the Equity Library Theater in New York, when a movie company came to see the play I was in and offered me a contract. But the deal was, my nose was too big and they wanted me to have surgery. My jaw was crooked, and I'd have to have that fixed, too. And they didn't like my name; it was too common.

It's one thing to be talented, but the other thing is connections - with agents, with people; that's what makes a difference, and from the beginning, I've had wonderful representation.

I had no desire to be a star. I wanted to be a character actress and be able to do all kinds of parts and work on a lot of things. That was my unconscious choice. I wanted to be an undercover actress.

Ultimately I'm the captain, but if someone can't get themselves in the right state to play, it's not my job. If they don't want to come into work determined to be the best they can be, they're in the wrong job.

When The B-52s started in the late '70s, music and the business was totally different. Obviously, it's easier for everyone to be able to work with music, record, and get good quality.

I put my heart into my career, and the people knew that I did that; and I went from being the most hated man to one of the best loved.

I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out what will happen in an acting career.