When I first went on the stage I was 17 and under the legal age for performers.

I could always open shows, perform through the middle, and close shows.

I have no acting technique I act instinctively. That's why I can't play any role that isn't based on something in my life.

I could depend a lot on my shaking, though I never shimmied vulgarly and only to express myself.

The white audiences thought I was white, my features being what they are, and at every performance I'd have to take off my gloves to prove I was a spade.

New York is only 97 miles from Philadelphia but was the Big Time as no other American city has ever been.

What impressed me most about New York were its huge apartment houses.