Quotes

All this time I've just wanted to be blonde, beautiful and 5 feet 2 inches tall.

I really feel all my adult life has been spent in that little black box. If a wonderful part on TV came along I would do it. But I don't want to do a recurring role. It would just be my luck that the thing would be successful. I'm old enough now and also secure enough financially that I really only want to do what I want to do.

At least I'm not playing other people for a change. It's a very odd place to be... I feel I'm an actress who sings a bit.

After being in the business for such a long time, I've done everything but rodeo and porno.

And I hate autobiographies, I don't know why.

[on playing "Vera Charles" in Mame (1974)] You know, the real name of this show is "Vera". The only reason they changed the name was because Jerry [lyricist Jerry Herman] couldn't think of a rhyme for it. Stephen Sondheim could have.

[on the death of Estelle Getty in 2008]: Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her.

Look -- I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line. What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting.

Let's face it, nobody ever asked me to play Juliet.

[In 1973]: There comes a morning when you wake up and realize you're not Barbra Streisand. If a woman my age is still fighting for roles, it can only mean there's something missing from her personal life.

In sitcoms, the women are so beautiful, understanding and well-bred. They have humor, but sort of display it with a twinkle of the eye and not a guffaw. But there's no juice in that for me.

[When she won the 1966 Broadway Tony Award for her portrayal of Vera Charles in Mame]: I just learned that expression.

[When a knock on the front door produced the lady in tennis shoes]: I hope you won't be afraid of George and Julie, they're really very friendly.

[In 1972]: No, no, don't call me Ms. I don't go along with this liberation thing. Liberation from what?

I don't think they realized how completely vulnerable I am. Matter of fact, I may start crying right now; if you let me.

[on the cancelation of The Golden Girls (1985)]: I stayed with it for 7 years. I think, definitely, I made the right decision, cause we had highs that we couldn't top.

[on the cancelation of Maude (1972)]: I have had six full years. It's been glorious, I've loved every minute of it. But it has been six years and I think it's time to leave.

[In 1978]: Norman has had an idea some time ago in which Maude becomes a congresswoman and moves to Washington. Norman said if you go on for another year, we'll do it in Washington with a new cast. And if you don't, it's a hell of a way to end the show.

[In 1975]: If I could only repeal the law of gravity.

As an artist. As an important artist.

I really feel that I'm an exposed nerve... I don't know how else to say it, but I am. I'm moved by everything.

I've seen so many excellent actors - excellent actors - who the minute they're told they're in a comedy turn into god knows what - creatures from another planet! I mean they just.. the voice changes, they don't look the same, it's like - it has no similarity to any living human being, do you know what I mean? Or don't you? And I'm not talking about Sylvester Stallone... but there's a good example. You know what I mean? It comes down to what I said at the beginning of this: belief, truth... It's truth.

[In 1976]: Other than that it was a fun show to do. But I'll tell you one thing. That's the first and last time you'll see me on a horse - white or any color. The first person to suggest I do a Matt Dillon impression is not going to walk without pain for a week!

[When she gained popularity as the fifty-something Maude Findlay on Maude]: This show was every bit as tough as the analysis' show, but at least I wasn't out there all alone so that made it almost bearable. Of course the fact that we all had the flu and none of us had had time for Christmas shopping didn't make it easier.

I've been a Democrat my whole life. That's what makes Maude and Dorothy so believable, we have the same viewpoints on how our country should be handled.

[on her reclusive final days]: I like to be myself and rest.

[In 1985, about her devotion to the elderly, taking over from her mother's suicide]: She had all her marbles, she was in great shape, but she was almost totally deaf and almost totally blind, and really just wanted out. It was really something, anyway, you do what you have to do. So. Why are all these people suffering from AIDS? You think-do it. Don't prolong it. I'm sure I don't feel any different from anybody else about that...I would rather they died than see the terrible ravages of this horrendous disease.

[In 2001, when asked whether she was also credited as Jane Ross] Why, I never heard of that! My name? You mean, my real name? Are you serious? It's the first I've heard of that. The first I've heard of that! What does that mean? No one ever consulted me. No, in the movie that I made with Jason Alexander called For Better or Worse (1995), I absolutely refused screen credit, because I felt the part wasn't that important, and I didn't feel that I did that great a job in it. But I don't remember a pseudonym.