We never had a bathtub. Mom would bathe me in the wooden or tin washtub in the kitchen, or in a big lard can.

There's no hypocrisy in Hell's Kitchen.

Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didn't live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me.

The big compliment came from the beer drinkers who didn't know me. They wouldn't drink or move when I sang. If they had their glasses in mid-air, the glasses wouldn't come down.

Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me.

We have big serving lines in the kitchen. They fill your plate and they take it out, and you never know, it might be your dentist, or your doctor or your banker serving you because everybody participates.