My favorite [costume in collection] is the white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in the subway breeze scene in 'The Seven Year Itch.'

If you do a musical, it's really thrilling and it's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding. I would say, for me, what I like best is what I do, which is, I call it vaudeville, I call it live, I call it in concert, I call it what Bette Midler does, and what Garland did for years, and Ethel Merman.

I think that the working hours and star pressures pushed a lot of people into drugs in those days. And there seemed to have been a lot of alcoholism.

[Las Vegas in the early 1960] was thrilling, exciting... I would describe it as very Parisian.

Years ago nudity was not done in the United States. But during that late 1950s era in Vegas it began at the Tropicana, and spread to the other venues. Now the showgirls are going away again and Cirque du Soleil, the magic acts and the animal acts reign in Las Vegas. But I don't think you'll completely lose the boobie shows.

I did win [on a contest]. And that started me on a new path, and into show business.

I tour all year, 42 weeks a year, so it's hard for me to remember every place I play.