Q&A Lauren Bacall

By Rebecca Winters

Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall, an interview show, and a marathon of Bacall's films air on TCM this month.

Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Jason Robards ... Did you ever think of dating an accountant?

Accountants don't come near me. Men need to feel important. They feel better when they're with younger girls or unknown girls. I don't know what the hell men think. I've given up trying to figure it out.

Does having the kind of romance you did with Bogie so young set you up for disappointment later in life?

When everything happens to you when you're so young, you're very lucky, but by the same token, you're never going to have that same feeling again. The first time anything happens to you--your first love, your first success--the second one is never the same.

Why did you object to a journalist's use of the word legend to describe Nicole Kidman?

A legend involves the past. And I don't like categories. This one is great, and that one is great. I mean, the word great stands for something. When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise.

So you don't think Tom Cruise is a great actor?

No, I don't. His whole behavior is so shocking. It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it's kind of a sickness.

Your fan websites say you collect beer mugs.

That I collect what? Absolutely untrue. You're not serious! I don't drink beer. I've been accused of a lot of things, but that's a new one.

At 81, you have four films out this year. Any plans to slow down?

What is the point of working all your life and then stopping? All right, so you start off when you're a kid, and you make an impression. You can't always be a leading lady. You can't always be a glamour-puss. It all changes, thank God.