Quotes from Charlotte Rae

At 91, every day is a birthday.

People of a certain age still remember me as Edna Garrett. They often want to give me a hug because the character was so warm and nurturing. I don't mind at all. I think it's very nice.

I wanted to be a serious actress and do all the classics.

I was doing a lot of drama until I took the comedy role in the series 'Car 54, Where Are You?,' and I've been tagged as a comedian ever since.

I want to tell everybody to celebrate every day, to savor the day and be good to yourself, love yourself, and then you can be good to others and be of service to others.

When I was little, and whenever I had to wear a dress while my mother took up the hem or made any alterations, she told me to keep a thread from the dress in my mouth while she was sewing, and that would keep me from getting stuck by the needle.

We used to listen to all the marvelous operas on records. Music was a very important part of our lives.

My family was very loving but also very superstitious. My mother was always telling us, 'Don't walk under a ladder or you'll have bad luck,' or, 'If you spill salt, be sure and toss a pinch over your shoulder, or you're in trouble.'

I'm not a religious freak, but I do believe that there is a higher power.

Television does devour you because you have all sorts of responsibilities, and I really needed to renew myself. I think I owed it to myself. So I honored myself and quit. I think that's a wonderful way to put it.

I'd like for 'Facts of Life' to include more stories about Mrs. Garrett. But I wouldn't want to do a spin-off built around her.

You can take wonderfully talented actors, wonderfully talented writers and producers, and, uh, do a wonderful show!... but if it doesn't hit with the public in two minutes, it's bye-bye.

When I moved to New York to start my acting career, I was always very, very careful to walk way around ladders, and black cats could ruin my day. There were many silly things that brought fear into my life.

I know I was influenced by Beatrice Lillie. I must have been.

I saw I wasn't an ingenue like Debbie Reynolds.

Composers, artists, actors, singers - all of them, I think, unconsciously learn from others. I'm sure it's not conscious, but they can't help it.

I felt inferior. I had this tremendous need to perform. I wanted to be acceptable to my peers. I thought if I could just be a big star, I'd feel like somebody, too.

Gee whiz, I know that some movie stars don't like to be bothered, but I don't mind. I think it's part of the package, and it's not a bother.

They very seldom let me lose my cool. They made me like I was Polly Perfect, which was ridiculous so that when I bump into kids on the street they'd say 'I wish my Mom were like you.'

Superstitions actually played a big role in my life. I wouldn't even go on a casting call if I had a hunch that it was an 'unlucky' day.

I have wonderful friends. I'm not just a lonely old lady.

They very seldom let me lose my cool. They made me like I was Polly Perfect, which was ridiculous so that when I bump into kids on the street they'd say 'I wish my Mom were like you.'

Because of the power of television, I was visible to everybody all over the world. But there are many things in the theater that are more fulfilling and that I look forward to doing more. But really, I love it all: theater, film, television.

There's nothing wrong with making people laugh. We all need to laugh. Sometimes I get all these laughs inside of me, and there's no place to let 'em out.