Joey Heatherton

Bob Fosse, the choreographer. is a very, very good friend. He has helped me enormously.

During my first tour of Vietnam, John Steinbeck and his wife were there and we had Christmas dinner together.

In the past my career emphasized variety, singing, dancing and only some acting.

In 'Of Mice And Men' I play a straight dramatic role and I'm the only female in the play.

The 'Hullabaloo' spot established me as a variety performer.

People forget I'm an actress.

I wanted to be in show business before I could get out of my crib.

My mother was a dancer and my first ambition was to dance, but now that I've had some acting experience I want to become a very good actress.

I really work at a part to do it to the best of my ability. And I'm studying acting as well as keeping up with my singing and dancing lessons.

My parents were dead set against my becoming a professional performer before I finished college. They felt the most important thing a girl can have in any career is education.

I was born Davenie Johanna Heatherton, but my name was abbreviated for practical purposes.

When I started making movies, they tried to change my name, but I had already made a name for myself in a couple of Broadway productions and in television, so I wouldn't change it.

I never talk money.

Just making people feel good, that's what I try to do. I love it, I love it!

I'm not just Joey. I'm a performer. I can sing, dance and I can act.

Few people remember that I played a nun in the Broadway musical, 'the Sound of Music.'

When I tried out for cheerleader, they sneered, 'You're too good, kid,' and put me in the high-kick line instead. It was pure jealousy, if you ask me.

If ever remarry, it won't be for kicks. Marriage is too special.

Parents ought to try to learn the language teenagers speak, and they ought to listen to teenage music.

My real name is Davenie Johanna Heatherton, but my older brother, Dick, couldn't pronounce Johanna when he was a boy. So he called me 'Joey.'

I think that baking cakes with elaborate icings for an appreciative audience is fun.

People try to turn you into something if they can't pin you down.

I am quiet around people I don't know.

I'll babble, bubble and talk around those I know real good.

It's awful when everything's before your time.

We had a 'Project Joey' scheme worked out in which I would take correspondence courses while acting in Hollywood. Then when I flew home, teachers would come on their own time and help me hone up in world history, psychology, English literature and French. We gave it a noble try, and I hope some day to complete the project.

Mother had taught me dance steps from the time I was 3, and we were always singing and dancing around the kitchen table.

One day Dad was driving in to New York to appear on a telethon. I hid in the back seat until he had gone too far to turn back. I pleaded with him to let me appear on the telethon with him. He finally agreed. Richard Rodgers happened to be watching the telecast, and he called Dad afterwards with the offer of a job for me.

Yes, people are always predicting a big breakthrough for me, but it has never happened. I don't know why, exactly. But I don't worry about it.

I'm just grateful for the kind of experience I've had, and the people I've been able to work with.

People only see me one way.

I'm not a big talker.

I make sure that I work out on the mat and the trapeze. That helps tone the legs and arms. Following that, I may lift some 5- or 10-pound weights. That's good for maintaining a nice round figure, if you know what I mean.

I've had some life, and it got pretty accelerated, really quite exciting but very dangerous.

I can't help the way I look. What am I supposed to do, put a plastic bag over my head?

I looked 18 when I was 13.

Our family is very close and since I'm not one for cooking or answering alarm clocks on the first ring, I depend on mother.

Dad always wanted me to be a boy.

I think the prettiest play in football is the pass.

I want to be on the big stage. Broadway. I was there before.

I believe in theatrics, and I believe in show biz.

I don't have a special diet.

Maybe it's psychosomatic, but I think if I eat well, I'll sing or dance well.

I eat what I want, usually one meal In the daytime and one at night.

Once when I was making a picture in Hollywood, one of the directors who was a health addict was always trying to got me to eat organic bread, tiger milk and yoghurt, I must say the only thing I liked was the strawberry yoghurt.

I'll crumble off a little tuna on a plate, sprinkle with lemon and spear the pieces with colorful toothpicks, so it looks festive and appetizing.

I like to get the audience involved in my act by walking among the tables and getting people to ask me questions.

The first thing I do in the morning is get a couple of cups of coffee down my throat to get my heart started. Then, if the weather is pleasant, I jog as much as five miles, if I feel up to it.

A lot of people think of me only as a cute, sexy blonde.

I love my music. It gets written by some very great writers.