I began as a true beginner, not knowing how to dance or perform. I just entered a local contest in town as a joke, because if you entered you got a free blouse and scarf.

For 'Singin' in the Rain,' I bought most of the costumes - the 'Fit as a Fiddle' costumes and the 'Make Them Laugh' Donald O'Connor outfits and the 'Good Morning, Good Morning' clothes we danced in.

'How the West was Won' was very hard, because it was a three cameras technique, meaning three cameras wide. Therefore I wasn't speaking to my fellow performer, I was speaking to a camera, or a line next to the camera. It was difficult to do, because its not real acting. I had to pretend that I was 'seeing' Agnes Moorhead or Jimmy Stewart or Carroll Baker. I wasn't, I was acting to a drawn line. It took me personally two years to make the film, because my character starts at age 16 and I end up being 92 years old in the film. By the end of that production, I was ready for a long nap.

Marilyn Monroe was taken advantage of by most of the men that knew her, including Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio, whom I also knew very well.

I don't think it's the fans, I think it's the fact that they get paid a lot of money for a picture of you doing something wrong. They don't seem to be interested in anything good any more.I think people appreciate what you do.

I feel sorry for the young people today. I think there's too much paparazzi and not enough protection.

I have the largest private collection in the world [of Hollywood memorabilia].