SHOW BUSINESS QUOTES

quotations about show business

I always tell new people in show business. I say, "Look, show business pays you a lot of money, because eventually you're gonna get screwed. And when you get screwed, you will have this pile of money off to the side already." And they go, "OK, OK, OK, you ready? You ready?" "I got screwed." "You got the pile of money?" "Yeah, I'm fine." I mean, that's the way it works.

JAY LENO

60 Minutes, January 26, 2014

Tags: Jay Leno


There's no doubt about it, show business lures the people who didn't get enough love, attention, or approval early in life and have grown up to become bottomless, gaping vessels of terrifying, abject need. Please laugh.

DENNIS MILLER

attributed, The User's Guide to Being Human: The Art and Science of Self


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn.

JOSS WHEDON

post on Bronze Beta web message board after discovering that The WB had cancelled Angel, February 14, 2004


Show business is and has always been a depraved carnival.

DAVID MAMET

True and False

Tags: David Mamet


Show business is the best possible therapy for remorse.

ANITA LOOS

Kiss Hollywood Goodbye


The only thing harder than leaving show business is coming back.

DAVE CHAPPELLE

attributed, I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone


You pay the man
You pay your dues
When it's all gone, ooh
You sing the blues

AC/DC

"Show Business"


I have had my different husbands, my families. I am fond of them all and I visit them all. But deep inside me there is the feeling that I belong to show business.

INGRID BERGMAN

attributed, Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman


Basically, it boils down to I always feel that show business is a party I snuck into and they haven't found out yet. As long as there are people around dumb enough to pay me, I'm willing to do it.

GILBERT GOTTFRIED

"Gilbert Gottfried on Showbiz Stupidity and Hollywood Legends", Miami New Times, August 25, 2017


The Pope's entrance was stunning. Maybe the Catholics know about miracles, and maybe they know about saints, but they've never received enough credit for what they know about show business.

GEORGE BURNS

Gracie: A Love Story

Tags: George Burns


I know that show business is my life. It always was and it always will be. Nothing holds my interest like show business, nothing excites me more. There's nothing I think or talk about as much. I would hate to have to live without show business. When I'm working, I'm happy.

GEORGE BURNS

Wisdom of the 90s


There's no business like show business.

IRVING BERLIN

Annie Get Your Gun

Tags: Irving Berlin


The power of the mass media has brought the dream of stardom to every corner of the globe. In the past young people were most often recruited into show business by family members or friends. Often a life in show business was an economic necessity, not a choice. But with the dominance of the mass media the dream of stardom is available to all. In the future live entertainment will persist, and young people will increasingly aspire to join the ranks of show folks.

JACQUELINE BOLES

Life Upon the Wicked Stage: A Sociological Study of Entertainers


Show business is ... the science of packing theatres.

WOLF MANKOWITZ

ABC of Show Business


That's what show business is--sincere insincerity.

BENNY HILL

The Observer, June 12, 1977


I think that just trying to work professionally in the world of show business is already trying to overcome adversity. The cards are really stacked against you, and so much of it is completely out of your control.

CORINNE MELANCON

"Arts Speak With Corinne Melancon", Ladue News, August 10, 2017


What is Show Business? Is it an industry for the manufacture of synthetic laughs and tears?

WOLF MANKOWITZ

ABC of Show Business


I went into show business strictly from hunger. Starvation helps to turn you into a good actor, I guess.

JAMES CAGNEY

attributed, Film-makers Speak


Show business is just like high school, except you get paid.

MARTIN MULL

attributed, Laugh Off: The Comedy Showdown Between Real Life and the Pros


Retire? I'm going to stay in show business until I'm the only one left.

GEORGE BURNS

attributed, Gotcha!

Tags: George Burns