Hollywood is a strange place if you're in trouble. Everybody thinks it's contagious.

My [singing] style really has no style, because I try to sing each number differently. I’ve always believed that if style takes precedent over the words and music, the audience get’s cheated. It’s like when people see a fine play or movie. They imagine themselves in the leading role. I want them to imagine that they’re singing - not just listening to someone else.

I try to bring the audience's own drama - tears and laughter they know about - to them.

I think there's something peculiar about me that I haven't died. It doesn't make sense but I refuse to die.

When you get to know a lot of people, you make a great discovery. You find that no one group has a monopoly on looks, brains, goodness or anything else. It takes all the people - black and white, Catholic, Jewish and Protestant, recent immigrants and Mayflower descendants - to make up America.

The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.