[on Bette Davis ] The great lesson I learned from Bette was her absolute dedication to getting everything just right. She used to spend hours studying the character she was going to play, then hours in make-up ensuring that her physical appearance was right for the part. I have always tried to put the same amount of work into everything I've done.

Trivia:

She was very eager to play the part of Melanie in Vom Winde verweht (1939) but Jack L. Warner , with whom she was under contract, refused to loan her out fearing that she would then become dissatisfied with her lot at Warners. It was only the persuasion of his wife that he let her go but he was right when she found she got much better treatment away from Warners.