- [on Christian Science] It has shown me the meaning of life and the path we should follow, both in acknowledging our Creator and in finding contentment.
- When an actress had to wear furs for a particular part the furs were real as were all her jewels. As a matter of fact, for one of my roles I was worth $250,000 on the hoof!
- The birth of acting for a camera was not the birth of a stepchild of legitimate theater. I hate that comparison. It was something new and different. It was the synthesis of pantomime with the mechanics of camera
- And while I was a girl still aspiring to the theatrical world - there were signs posted in California restaurants that read, "No dogs, cats or actresses permitted on the premises." That's how well regarded the acting profession was everywhere in those days.
- But my mother gave in and took me to New York where I began my career and fainted when I met Mary Pickford.
- I lived through the most exciting years of movie making. I was privileged to work with the pioneers in a new art form of entertainment.
- It was also DeMille who began using background music to sustain the mood of a performance and all the actors and actresses soon had their favorite tear music - or the music most likely to make them cry when their role demanded it.
- And when you're being paid hundreds of dollars to cry when they say cry - you're in trouble if you can't produce the tears forthwith! So I invented my own technique for creating tears when I needed them - I buried my mother mentally. I went through the whole funeral ceremony. And because I adored my mother, this unfailing brought on tears. I used to feel a little guilty about it afterward and try to make up to her by bringing her a gift. But she was on to my technique and whenever I brought her something special she'd say - "Uhuh been burying me again, I see."
- Pantomime is one of the most difficult of arts. It's something that takes years to master. And it really does seem a shame that those who have spent years perfecting this must step aside because their voice doesn't come up to standard.
- [in 1939] Once you get into this business you never can really get away from it. When I retired I fully intended to give up pictures for good. And I did, almost. But I knew all the time what I was missing. After you have had an acting career, it's real life that seems like play acting and acting becomes the thing that's vital. It's so exhilarating. You spend so much of your time being somebody else that you don't have time to get tired of yourself. That's one of the things I missed most about being out of the business. Honestly, I used to look in my mirror and say, "Are you still around?" I couldn't get used to always being myself.
- [in 1963] I live in two worlds. My outer and inner lives. My outer life has me adoring my five grandchildren here in Old Greenwich. Also, it has me attending club meetings and dressing up for luncheon and dinner parties. But these pleasures wouldn't be half so satisfying if they weren't supported by my religious beliefs.
- [on Cecil B. DeMille] He is kind and clever. One at first has to become adapted to his methods of direction. I was frightened to death for the first few days lest I should lift my hand awkwardly or take an ungainly step. More than any director I have been with, he recognizes that the voice means nothing on the screen. It is not enough to say a thing. He demands pantomime. I have struggled hours before a mirror trying to express without words a paragraph picked at random from a book.
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