"Duke Ellington was famous for hs very original harmonic patterns." — Lawrence Welk

Dreams do come true, even for someone who couldn't speak English and never had a music lesson or much of an education.

I always worried I'd forget my lines or say the wrong words or the audience would laugh in the wrong places.

I have never been an innovator, a creative genius.

I played a Spaniard. I looked about as Spanish as any other fair-skinned German.