Polly Bergen

“I'm one of those people who always needs a mountain to climb. When I get up a mountain as far as I think I'm going to get, I try to find another mountain.”

“The interesting thing about me is that I was born poor, and I've lived rich and I've lived poor, and I know how to do both. People think rich is better. I don't know.”

“I started having a lot of problems with my voice in my mid-30s.”

“When I was young, they just gave me the lead. And when I got old, they wouldn't see me at all.”

“Baltimore is one of the most beautiful towns, really. And trust me, I don't say that about every place. There is just something so quaint, old and beautiful about this place.”

“The secret I've lived by ever since I started earning money is this: Always buy a house with an extra bedroom adjoining the master. And that's always my closet.”

“The thing is, when you see your old friends, you come face to face with yourself. I run into someone I've known for 40 or 50 years, and they're old. And I suddenly realize I'm old. It comes as an enormous shock to me.”

“I came to Southbury because I wanted to live a more simple life. When I was a child, I saw lots of movies about happy people living in Connecticut. And ever since then, that was where I wanted to live. I thought it would be like the movies. And it really is. It's exactly what I hoped it would be.”

“As soon as my foot is in the light onstage, I am home. It is what I love to do. It is what I have always loved to do.”

“I was fanatically ambitious. All I ever wanted was to be a star. I didn't want to be a singer. I didn't want to be an actress. I wanted to be a star.”

“You look at the road you could have taken, you know, I just think that's interesting... I've been on a lot of roads and I had to hitchhike on a couple of 'em... I have to be very honest: There's not an awful lot of regret in my life. I think that, you know, you learn from everything, and then, sometimes, you don't.”

“I always said, 'A blind dog with three legs could get a standing ovation for singing 'I'm Still Here!'”

“It suddenly struck me - I'm 70 years old. I wonder if I could possibly end my life the way I started it: doing the most joyful thing I ever did, which is to sing.”