Barbara Stanwyck

"I never got a Oscar. I never had an acting lesson. Life was my only training."

"Im a tough old broad from Brooklyn. Dont try to make me into something Im not. If you want someone to tiptoe down the Barkley staircase in crinoline and politely ask where the cattle went, get another girl."

"People talk about my career, but career is too pompous a word. It was a job, and I have always felt very privileged to be paid for what I love doing."

"I could understand if they picked Katharine Hepburn, but of course she wouldnt do it. But when they asked me, I thought at first it was a mistake. I thought they got me mixed up with Bette Davis. Attention embarrasses me. I dont like to be on display. I was always an extrovert in my work, but when it comes time to be myself Ill take a powder every time."

"My only problem is finding a way to play my fortieth fallen female in a different way from my thirty-ninth."