I began to see during the civil war, in that part of the states of Missouri and Kansas where the doctors were shut out, the children did not die.

My father was a progressive farmer, and was always ready to lay aside an old plough if he could replace it with one better constructed for its work. All through life, I have ever been ready to buy a better plough.

While I was making my solo films, RKO was busily trying to get me and Fred Astaire back together. The studio wanted to capitalize on the success of 'Flying Down to Rio' and realized that the pairing of Rogers and Astaire had moneymaking potential.

The success that Pantera had, I could have never, ever forecasted or predicted, and I always felt a responsibility to try to pay even a bit of it forward.

Before Ricky Gervais came along, I was a jobbing actress and perfectly content if a little unfulfilled: I'd just done an advert for Imodium. That year, 1999, I auditioned for four parts. 'The Office' was the only one I got. What its success gave me was freedom of choice.

Success is built on organisation, determination, and experience, not to mention following the regulations, so of course it's no easy matter.