“I’ve been in love with audiences all my life, and I’ve tried to please. I hope I did.”

I’m the original take-orders girl.

How strange when an illusion dies. It’s as though you’ve lost a child.

I’ve seen the ticket, and I still can’t believe it. When I see the money, I hope I don’t hit the floor.

If I am a legend, then why am I so lonely?

I was born in a lovely white house with a garden.

I try to bring the audience’s own drama – tears and laughter they know about – to them.

To let a fool kiss you is bad. To let a kiss fool you is worse. ‘Twas not my lips you kissed but my soul.

We cast away priceless time in dreams, born of imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality.

I can live without money, but I cannot live without love.

I was born at the age of twelve on an MGM lot.

I’ve always taken ‘The Wizard of Oz’ very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it.

Give the people what they want and then go have a hamburger.

When I die I have visions of fags singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ and the flag at Fire Island being flown at half mast.

People en masse have always been wonderful to me. I truly have a great love for an audience. I want to give them two hours of just pow.

Audiences have kept me alive.

When you have lived the life I’ve lived, when you’ve loved and suffered, and been madly happy and desperately sad — well, that’s when you realize you’ll never be able to set it all down. Maybe you’d rather die first.

Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions.

I enjoy it when it’s over! I enjoy whatever success we have. If an audience finds it funny, then it’s been worth it.

If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

I want to be a collaborative thing and be part of the audience and have them be part of me.

I would like to get rid of the homophobes, sexists, and racists in our audience. I know they’re out there and it really bothers me.

Writing a description for this thing for general audiences is bloody hard. There’s nothing to relate it to.

I would love to have an ocean of love right now. That said, the number-one rule of acting is, ‘Do not seek approval from the audience.’ People don’t realize that. You can’t do stuff to get applause. You have to live in the truth.

I don’t seek validation outside, not even with the audience. Today they like me, but tomorrow they may hate me. I don’t want to be anybody’s role model.