I suppose our lives need to be more integrated. We have white communities and black communities and white country clubs and black country clubs. It's very important when we integrate ourselves, and it helps us to have a better understanding of the world, to people all over the world and this is the time in history that we have become very aware of how important that is, so I think it's just really-we have to know each other and work together and play together in order to write about each other.

As soon as my mother saw my father, she said, "Oh! I think I'm gonna marry that man." That's the reason I've been married four times, because I think it's that easy ... it really is not.

I have a line of clothing at J.C. Penney's... and I'm lucky to be affiliated.

Whenever you're on television, there's a responsibility to look timeless. I worked with the masters of film, fashion and beauty. I took their words into my soul, like a kind of religion that I exhibited to the world to all of our benefit. To this day, it takes a great deal of time to do my makeup the way I feel comfortable. At 82, it's still a part of what I do. I enjoy it.

If you're not invited to the party, throw your own.

In the beginning, I found myself dealing with a show business dictated by male white supremacists and chauvinists. As a black female, I had to learn how to tap dance around the situation. I had to ... find a way to present my point of view without being pushy or aggressive. In the old days, the only women I saw in this business were in makeup, hairdressing, and wardrobe departments. Now I'm surrounded by women executives, writers, directors, producers, and even women stagehands.

I like to think I opened doors for other women, although that wasn't my original intention.