Ethel Merman was an American actress, artist, and singer. Known primarily for her distinctive, powerful voice and leading roles in musical theatre, she has been called “the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage”. These Ethel Merman quotes will motivate you.
Best Ethel Merman Quotes
- “At one time I smoked, but in 1959 I couldn’t think of anything else to give up for Lent so I stopped – and I haven’t had a cigarette since.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Be yourself — it’s the one thing you can do better than anyone else.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I remember Tallulah (Bankhead) telling of going into a public ladies’ room and discovering there was no toilet tissue. She looked underneath the booth and said to the lady in the next stall, ‘I beg your pardon, do you happen to have any toilet tissue in there?’ The lady said no. So Tallulah said, ‘Well, then, dahling, do you have two fives for a ten?'” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they’d be up here on stage and I’d be out there watching them.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I’ve never cooked. I can’t do much more in the kitchen than make a cup of tea and some toast.” ~ Ethel Merman
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“I can hold a note as long as the Chase National Bank.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Now what kind of an attitude is that, ‘These things happen?’ They only happen because this whole country is just full of people who, when these things happen, they just say, ‘These things happen,’ and that’s why they happen! We gotta have control of what happens to us.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Any audience that gets a laugh out of me gets it while I’m facing them” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I’ve been very good to broadway.” ~ Ethel Merman
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“Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake of ice.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I told her that there was something about Christmas carols that always brought tears to my eyes. I added that I also cry at weddings. To me weddings are very solemn occasions. I should have cried at a couple of my own.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “There’s such a thing as theater discipline. One player doesn’t appropriate another’s inventions” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I wouldn’t change one thing about my professional life, and I make it a point not to dwell on my mistakes” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I’ve made a wonderful living playing that theatrical character – the professional brassy dame” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I wouldn’t trust any man as far as you can throw a piano” ~ Ethel Merman
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“I take a breath when I have to.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect most” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Cole Porter had a worldwide reputation as a sophisticate and hedonist” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I mentioned that I was thinking of getting out of the business after Call Me Madam. I thought maybe I should become a homebody.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Music, in the past few years… anything singable or understandable is square.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I wasn’t straining at the bit to become a movie star any more than I had plotted to get out of vaudeville and into Broadway musicals” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Legend has it that when God created me, he gave me a big distinctive voice, a lot of boldness, and no heart.” ~ Ethel Merman
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“[Cole Porter] sang like a hinge.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Once I had the attention, all I had to do was deliver.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Of my four marriages, the one to Bob Levitt is the only one I don’t regret” ~ Ethel Merman
- “The only things I read are gossip columns. If I read three pages of a book, I’m out like a light. When I pick up the book again, I’ve forgotten what I’ve read and have to start over again. By page three, even if I’ve just awakened from a nine -hour nap, I fall asleep again. So if anyone gives me a book, it had better have lots of pictures.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “When I’m asked how to succeed in show business, I always say I haven’t the foggiest” ~ Ethel Merman
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“At a flea market I always head for the junk jewelry table first.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I’ll pat myself on the back and admit I have talent. Beyond that, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time” ~ Ethel Merman
“I have plenty of invitations to go places, lots to do. If I’m not working, I go to have my hair taken care of and work at needlepoint” ~ Ethel Merman - “Everything’s coming up roses – for me.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “My career at Warner Brothers consisted of one musical short subject. I was running around in a bear skin. Very chic.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “When you are in deep conflict about something, sometimes the most trivial thing can tip the scales.” ~ Ethel Merman
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“Cole Porter wrote Anything Goes and four more hits for me” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I am known to be able to take care of myself when I become angry. I don’t mince words.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I attend surprisingly few shows. The type of theater that is popular today just doesn’t appeal to me.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “You’ll never prove you’re too good for a job by not doing your best.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “My father taught me to read music and play the piano-but not well, even though people have said that I’m a natural musician” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I was born in my parents’ bedroom on January 16. The World Almanac says it was 1909. I say it was 1912. But what difference does it make as long as I feel 33?” ~ Ethel Merman
- “There have been people who have tried to take advantage of me. They want to be linked to me just because I’m Ethel Merman.” ~ Ethel Merman
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“Mom claimed that I could carry a tune at 2 or 3 years of age. Maybe she was a little prejudiced.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “If I feel in need of sleep, I just open a book or turn on the television. Both are better than any sleeping pill.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I preferred delivering my performance in person. I liked to be in control. You couldn’t be in films.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “The slapdash way producers used to assemble a show seems a little unbelievable when we talk about them now” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I was lucky enough to have the songs in my first show written by George and Ira Gershwin. Then Cole Porter wrote five shows for me” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I have been ambitious to be a somebody from the time I was 5 years old” ~ Ethel Merman
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“I work as often as I want and yet I’m free as a bird” ~ Ethel Merman
- “My beloved Mom and Pop always rated tops with each other, and that’s the way it will always be” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Mom and Pop were proud of my popularity, but from their point of view, show business was no way to make a living.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “Who’s happy these days?” ~ Ethel Merman
- “In my case, things have pretty much been handed to me” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I’ll admit – I was honored to be on the cover of Time” ~ Ethel Merman
- “I’ve never suffered stage fright. That fascinates people.” ~ Ethel Merman
- “As far as dramas are concerned, it’s considered passe for playwrights to turn out anything the average person can understand” ~ Ethel Merman
