Citations

[accepting her Oscar for Julia (1977)] My dear colleagues, I thank you very, very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda and I have done the best work of our lives, and I salute you and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums [interrupted by boos] whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression. And I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism. Thank you.

I choose all my roles very carefully so that when my career is finished I will have covered all our recent history of oppression.

I've opened my mouth on a lot of subjects. And I thought the more prestige you get, I'd have the power to do what I like. It's not true.

I don't think I ever felt beautiful until I was pregnant and when I gave birth to my children. I had terrible acne when I was a teenager and I was very tall, so tall I couldn't see myself in my mother's long mirror.

I don't consider myself beautiful at all, I'm usually running around like a scruff.

Of course, I am misrepresented very often, but so is everybody who has got something to say.

I would have liked to have more children. I had always wanted five children when I was younger. That was my dream, I wanted five and I don't think I would have been bothered if it had turned out to be six. In the end, I had four, but I lost one of them, the fourth one. I had a miscarriage.

Anybody can lose their job and have nothing. And people mind having nothing.

Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers.

How can we help the people in the audience--and ourselves--remove the cobwebs that prevents us all from being able to reach and touch things?

Analyzing the problem is vital. It's the only way you're going to arrive at the right thing to do.

A theater is being given over to market forces, which means that a whole generation that should be able to do theater as well as see it is being completely deprived.

I have a tremendous use for passionate statement.

It's a kinky part of my nature -- to meddle.

I give myself to my parts as to a lover.

America is gangsterism for the private profit of the few.

We all come to the theatre with baggage. The baggage of our daily lives, the baggage of our problems, the baggage of our tragedies, the baggage of being tired. It doesn't matter what age you are. But if our hearts get opened and released - well that is what theatre can do, and does sometimes, and everyone is thankful when that happens.

[Speaking of her parents (Michael & Rachel), sister Lynn, and brother Corin] We are the sprigs of a great and beautiful tree.

I always loved singing because we used to sing around the piano. My father [Michael Redgrave] was a brilliant pianist. He loved American musicals. He would bring back loads of song sheets when he went to America to work. And we'd group round the piano on Sunday and sing our hearts out.

One must never comment as an actor, never show that a character is shallow or vindictive, but let that be conveyed. I mean, none of us thinks of ourselves as being vindictive or shallow - perhaps we should.

I discovered a long time ago that the camera does lie, and thank God it does.

I'm happy to tell you about it, though I'm irritated to be shown to be so stupid. But there you are, it's the smoking that did it. My lungs are shattered, about 30 per cent capacity if I don't smoke. Which of course I don't anymore, though I was horrified to learn from my doctor that there are people with this diagnosis who still do.

[on being made a Dame] Surprised and grateful to join this wondrous group of British artists whose work has inspired me and audiences the world over. My generation fought for freedom of expression. Long may this remain.