Making a television show is not like making Coca-Cola or Bacardi rum. The human element in our business prevents us from finding a successful formula every time.
The success of I Love Lucy is something that happens only once in a lifetime, if you are fortunate enough to have it happen at all.
Since I was very young I have always worked hard at whatever I have had to do.
Joe McCarthy and his Senate hearings were like witch-hunts.
American people have the ability to laugh at themselves. It is one of the things that makes this country the great country that it is.
Motion-picture studio floors used to be all wooden and not smooth at all. This was difficult when moving a camera around on a dolly.
A single prop that does not look real to an audience can louse you up. The same is true of the smallest flaw in setting up the motivation in a story line.
Al Jolson was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived.
Good things do not come easy. The road is lined with pitfalls.
When I get in the sun I get very tanned. You can’t tell me from the native fishermen in Hawaii or Mexico.
I went to high school with Al Capone.
I don’t think anyone can tell you what it is that makes you a star.
I learned a lot from Xavier Cugat.
One of my biggest problems with comedy was that I did not understand some of the jokes.
The straw hat is the typical hat Cubans use. It’s cool and keeps the sun away from your face.
The Spanish and Cuban people have the same kind of wakes the Irish do. They go on for two or three days and drink a lot of booze and eat a lot of food.
The custom of my grandfather’s day is still going strong in Latin America. American girls do not seem to understand it.
Real intellectuals like to escape once in a while from their world of intellect.
No one could ever argue with me about people in show business being kind of nice.
It’s really amazing that two people from such different backgrounds and geographical origins ever got together. That was perhaps part of the attraction.
Mother came to New York to keep house for me.