If I am able to sing again it will be through some miracle operation. There's a lot of work being done to help singers regain their voices, but in my case I actually lost vocal tissue so it's very hard for my chords to rub together and I need to replace that tissue. I remain optimistic but not tremendously so.

Use your knowledge, and your heart, to stand up for those who can't stand, speak for those who can't speak, be a beacon of light for those whose lives have become dark.

I don't think today's younger audience... would even know what 1920s musicals were like.

I thought it was all a flash in the pan. It wasn't until Broadway came along that I felt I had really made it.

Leave every place you go, everything you touch, a little better for your having been there.

It is not enough to reach for the brass ring. You must also enjoy the merry go round.

My first memoir, 'Home,' was about my childhood, early training and formative years in the Theater, i am so pleased that my good friends at the Hachette Book Group have encouraged me to share the next phase of my life, beginning with my arrival in Hollywood and the wonderful movies and television programs I was asked to be a part of.