Shelley Winters

Proust Questionnaire

With nearly 100 films to her credit Shelley Winters has gone beyond the status of long-running actress to Hollywood legend. Now, at 75, Winters reflects on her career, and reveals that after 50 years on-screen she aspires to be an opera star

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

All’s right with the world.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Acting for 50 years.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Dieting.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Eleanor Roosevelt and Eleonora Duse.

Which living person do you most admire?

Betty Friedan.

What is your greatest extravagance?

I’m not extravagant. I’m generous.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

My age.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Just a moment.”

What is your greatest regret?

That I did not stay on the stage in New York longer.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My second husband.

When and where were you happiest?

When my daughter was born.

What is your favorite journey?

The one that leads me to my grandchildren.

What is your most treasured possession?

I don’t treasure possessions.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Depression.

What is your favorite occupation?

Teaching.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Sense of humor, I hope.

What do you most value in your friends?

Compassion.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

Heidi.

Who are your heroes in real life?

F.D.R.

What is it that you most dislike?

Pepper.

How would you like to die?

In my sleep.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

Female Einstein.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

Opera singer.

What is your motto?

“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”