Quotes

When I was dancing burlesque was an art--classy and elegant and requiring talent. I got out of it when it started to become raunchy and lost the art. Now they call it nude dancing, but it's plain old pornography as far as I'm concerned. They do things on stage that I wouldn't have even thought of doing.

I started out as an interpretive dancer, but I was offered more money if I took my clothes off, so I did. I started dancing at the age of 13 years old. I became a professional dancer at the age of 15 years old. If the owners of the clubs I had worked in ever knew that I was only 1, I think that they would have had a heart attack.

I took a lot of my anger that had been stored inside of me for many years and let it loose. I helped to create the character Varla [in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)] and helped to make her someone that many women would love to be like.

[asked what she feels is "the most important secret of all"] I've always told Ted [director Ted V. Mikels]) that you can't let anything get you down. Look at the positive side. Don't sweat the small stuff. Keep the negative side buried. I come and go as I please, so I can't get in trouble.