Rita Moreno

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

“When I was a little girl, there was no Variety Latino. When I was a little girl, there was no nothing. There were very few roles for people like myself.”

“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.”

“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 auditioned for 'West Side Story' just like everybody else, and I nearly had a heart attack, because I hadn't danced in about - oh, I don't know, about 15 years.”

“Beyonce moves a lot. She's astonishing, dances and sings at the same time. She is buff.”

“My grandkids are everything to me. For me, family is all!”

“I was dancing for my grandpa from the time I was 4 or 5 years old in Puerto Rico.”

“When I was in my teens and into my early 20s, I had acne. I used to get those big purple jobs, but not a lot of them, thank goodness, because you really couldn't see them in the films that I did.”

“Doing 'The Electric Company' was the most fun ever.”

“Actors very often are people who think it's always about 'me,' and I can see why! No one else is going to support you or say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry about that,' or, 'Here, let me give you a job.' It doesn't happen that way. You can see why performers get very self-absorbed.”

“I think it's important to be reminded that that's what this country is comprised of - people from other countries.”

“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.”

“I started dancing almost before I could walk.”

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

“My mother's feeling about men in general were always a bit of a mystery to me. She had difficulties in Puerto Rico with the men in her life. Her brothers abused her. It's very easy to be judgmental, but more often than not, there are mitigating circumstances, and children are not usually aware of those.”

“I was born in Puerto Rico - I used to sit in the sun until I looked like a piece of bacon. It's a wonder now that I don't look like an old wallet. I'm a very fortunate person.”

“I feel like I could go on forever.”

“Arrogance - I have very little tolerance for that.”

“My best work happened on the stage.”