I was always lonesome. The only time I felt accepted or wanted was when I was on stage performing. I guess the stage was my only friend: the only place where I could feel comfortable. It was the only place where I felt equal and safe.

I think that I have every right to write a book. I think I'm interesting. I have perspective about me.

When you get to know a lot of people, you make a great discovery. You find that no one group has a monopoly on looks, brains, goodness or anything else. It takes all the people - black and white, Catholic, Jewish and Protestant, recent immigrants and Mayflower descendants - to make up America.

Hollywood is a strange place if you're in trouble. Everybody thinks it's contagious.

Don't cry for money. It never cries for you.

Money's not important to me. Movie star acknowledgement is not important to me. I don't want to be a big studio actress. I don't want to be in the limelight.

So I got a chance to meet a whole bunch of those old real, real rough but gentle men. They lived hard, but they lived good - in one sense, you know. But you had a lot of fun. Didn't make much money, but you had a lot of fun.

You're talking serious money already in the bank, and millions of dollars coming in every year.