My husband and I were very different: I'm spontaneous and emotional; I'm loud - he was exactly the opposite. But you need to be flexible.

I made a lot of mistakes.

I wore so much rubber when I was at MGM, I bumped into the wall once, and I ricocheted.

I'm one of the happiest people I know. I truly am. And it's genuine.

It's kind of heartbreaking when I talk about it now, I still get very moved by the lack of opportunities that were available to myself and to the very few others who were Hispanic young actresses.

Maybe it's my age, but I know I look good, so I'm not going to look like another person suddenly because I don't have makeup on - same hair, same person.

I loved being in the film called 'Carnal Knowledge' - the one with Jack Nicholson, which was very dark but a really brilliant movie. I loved being in 'The Ritz.' 'The Ritz' I think is just hilarious. I just saw it again recently and by God, it's still funny!

I was never offered enough, and that's the truth.

I - my experience was really no different from any other immigrant that came to this country. It was rough.

I never had an easy time making friends in the past, for many reasons. I didn't go into therapy for nothing.

I'm so damn lucky to still be here at 85. If I get a hangnail, I don't dare complain! Life is good. I wake up humming.

You see a script, and you say, 'Oh, I can play the heck out of that,' talk to your agent, and he says they don't want to see you. That's heartbreaking.

I am a very positive and optimistic person.

There is something about sex that always brings out the funny in me. I think it's because we make such fools of ourselves over it.

Is there a grandmother that isn't spunky on television? Is there such a creature?

A friend of my mother's, Irene Lopez, was a Spanish dancer. She saw me bopping around the room and said to my mother, 'Rosita might have talent. Can I take her to my dance teacher?' There was no thought of a career at that time, but I knew I loved the attention, and that's so much a part of being a performer.

My best work happened on the stage.

My video has a lot to do with the inside of a woman. Usually, exercise videos refer to exteriors only. They never talk to a woman where she lives - in her heart and soul. I do that at the beginning and end of mine.

My idol when I was a kid was Elizabeth Taylor.

I make a lot of soups and stews at home, and I always have fresh bread with it.

You can never fight for a part or can't beg them to do another audition. You can try, but that rarely works.

'America' took at least five days of actual filming.

You can't, or you shouldn't, be nominated for an Oscar unless you've turned in a performance that's special.

I am a woman of the moment.

A lot of young Latino actors have said to me, 'Why can't we get an Oscar? Why can't we be nominated?' And the terrible truth is that if you don't get the right parts, you're not going to be. Are you going to get an Oscar nomination for one of those Judd Apatow movies? Not likely, no matter what nationality you are.

I've always had this image of this strong, sprightly person who is undaunted by anything; on the contrary, I was one of the shyest, most unsure people you ever met in your life. But I have one very specific quality: I'm plucky. I really am. I would say that's a perfect description of my personality.

The reason there weren't any, I am surmising, is that a lot of Latin kids, Latino kids, in those days didn't have the money to take those kind of classes.

The wonderful thing about cabaret is, you can do a lot of things you can't do in a concert. You can't do smoky ballads for 50 minutes in a concert. It's a different animal.

Mellowing has never done much for me. You need to keep moving.

If you saw me in 'The King and I,' I had that angelic, virginal face.

Elvis was a sweet darling, shy fellow, but he was really boring.

People say that when you get to a certain age that you start to mellow. I have no idea what these people are talking about.

I am not exactly Mrs. Good Housekeeping, although I love to cook, bake, even iron, but only because it's not mandatory.

If you're in a business where Latinos only play Indian maidens and what I call 'Conchita Lolita' parts - the little fiery spitfires - you do what you have to do.

I am the happiest Hispanic I've ever met. Truly.

If you're going to write about your life, you must write about your life.

I played a Siamese girl from Thailand. I played an Arabian girl. I did a lot of American Indians. I never, ever was able to do a part without assuming some kind of accent.

This is my idea of heaven, coming home and watching the news.

Being in service and being involved in something that is greater than you is what makes a person complete and whole. The very first thing I ever did in terms of activism was for an anti-atom bomb rally.

I sing Broadway stuff in the shower, mostly.

My voice has many dynamics in it. Like my little body.

I've always believed that I had talent, even when I felt like a very inferior sort of person, which I spent a lot of time living my life feeling that I wasn't worthy.

The thing I get the most that I really love is that people don't so much mention films I've been in or shows I've been in as they say, instead, 'I love you. I just love your perseverance.' That really pleases me.

I love performing for kids, but you can't play down to them, of course. Then it would be 'Captain Kangaroo.'

I call myself the hardware shelf. There's a lot of awards and honors there. And I have earned that. I didn't ask for it, I didn't beg for it, I didn't pay for it. I earned that. People see the accomplishments - but it's good to remind people that so much strife and labor and tears and heartbreak came before that, that it really is earned.

I figure if I keep my spirit in shape, the bones will take care of themselves.

Being the house ethnic was destroying my life and my sense of myself, because I had been consigned to play every dusky maiden you have ever seen in your life in movies.

When was the last time you saw a musical about people at war with each other?

Then there's the story of ill-fated love. It's universal.

I have stamina, and I have energy.