Billie Burke Quotes

On why she retired: "Acting just wasn`t any fun anymore."

"Age is something that doesn`t matter, unless you are a cheese."

(On Hollywood) "To survive there, you need the ambition of a Latin-American revolutionary, the ego of a grand opera tenor, and the physical stamina of a cow pony."

"By the time you get your name up in lights you have worked so hard and so long, and seen so many names go up and down, that all you can think of is: `How can I keep it here?`

On her husband, Florenz Ziegfeld: Ziegfeld has been portrayed as a man who pursued women. I have even come across a word which, in regard to him, is not only vulgar but incredibly inaccurate. The word is "Chaser." By all the pink-toed prophets, Flo Ziegfeld was never that! Flo never pursed any woman. He was cool and aloof and difficult. But there were times, more times than I prefer to recall, when he made a woman eager for his approval by a mere look, or a small expression, or by a slight grasp of her elbow, a low mumbling request to dance. That was all the effort he ever had to make. The story of one noted dancing girl about how Flo Ziegfeld used to batter down her door is a confection of sheer poppycock. I tell you: I know better.

But if people will laugh at my work and keep a sound roof over my head, who am I to complain?

An actress who has the gift of swaying the emotions of an audience, of compelling tribute of tears, or of moving the public to joyous merriment, cannot always be satisfied to set aside her whole career, in the work that she loves, simply because she is married.

I think when an actress marries she should leave the stage. She cannot be happy if she is married and remains on the stage. She must care more for her art or for her husband.

Age is something that doesn`t matter, unless you are a cheese.

Age is of no importance unless you are a cheese.

By the time you get your name up in lights you have worked so hard and so long, and seen so many names go up and down, that all you can think of is: `How can I keep it here?` On her husband, Florenz Ziegfeld: Ziegfeld has been portrayed as a man who pursued women. I have even come across a word which, in regard to him, is not only vulgar but incredibly inaccurate. The word is Chaser." By all the pink-toed prophets, Flo Ziegfeld was never that! Flo never pursed any woman. He was cool and aloof and difficult. But there were times, more times than I prefer to recall, when he made a woman eager for his approval by a mere look, or a small expression, or by a slight grasp of her elbow, a low mumbling request to dance. That was all the effort he ever had to make. The story of one noted dancing girl about how Flo Ziegfeld used to batter down her door is a confection of sheer poppycock. I tell you: I know better.

(On Hollywood) "To survive there, you need the ambition of a Latin-American revolutionary, the ego of a grand opera tenor, and the physical stamina of a cow pony."

A woman past forty should make up her mind to be young; not her face.

If I ever loved a man better than I love my art, I should marry him and leave the stage. But I have never met such a man.

On why she retired: "Acting just wasn`t any fun anymore."

There is no reason why marriage should necessarily compel an actress to forego her career.

Age is something that doesn`t matter, unless you are a cheese