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.

Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didn't live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me.

Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me.

Negroes are human beings with exactly the same faults and virtues as members of the other races.

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

If I wanted pity, I got it because I'm illegitimate. And when I didn't want it I was mean and nasty.

We show girls were forced to live in whorehouses in each town, no other accommodations being available.