A biography for Elaine Stritchhasn’t been written yet.
“For me, going to London is like coming home. In fact, I've often entertained the idea of ending my days there.”
“I think being boring is just the worst sin of all time.”
“I'm a hotel baby, absolutely: it's hard to think of a hotel I haven't stayed in.”
“I don't think I'm gonna die tomorrow or even two weeks from now, or even ever. I just don't know - who the hell knows what's gonna happen to them? Nobody! Isn't that comforting? Nobody has a clue. I like that we don't know. And I like that it's somebody else's decision, not mine.”
“These performers that go on about their technique and craft - oh, puleeze! How boring! I don't know what 'technique' means. But I do know what experience is.”
“I smoked, I drank, I did all the kicking my heels up type things, but I went to Mass on Sunday.”
“I like celebrities. I love people who are famous. Always have.”
“Quite frankly I don't know how to be happy. I have not a clue.”
“Fans recognize me all over the place. But the second you need anything, they're never around! They're like the police!”
“I could have made a lot of money doing 'Golden Girls,' and I would have been good. But the image of it! And for me to work with Betty White every day would be like taking cyanide.”
“The closer a part is to you, the harder it is to play. Anything else is just imitation. If I'm playing a Russian countess, I get the hat, the accent, the outrageousness. Easy. Playing a murderess? Perfect.”
“There's something about it that makes sense, Lent. You give something up, and everything's more joyful.”
“This age thing is all up to you. It's like happiness is up to you. You just have to understand what it is before you get it.”
“I have no intention of retiring. Even my blood sugar is better when I'm working.”
“I don't want to see my family all the time, and they're delighted, I'm sure, to be aware of that.”
“I love audiences. My God, the best friends in the world!”
“I don't have to go to a doctor and have my face changed. It terrifies me that women do that.”
“I compare Stephen Sondheim with humor, because humor is unanalyzable. You can't analyze humor. You just have to get through it.”
“There are a lot of things I do that I don't want to, but I have to. It's truly an emotional need for me to perform.”
“I think the most interesting New Yorkers are the people who were not born here.”