FIRST IMPRESSIONS: SUZI QUATRO
What are you working on?
I’ve just assembled a poetry book, so I have been working on that. I am now looking for the right publisher. I’m also rehearsing for my one-woman show – Unzipped.
When were you at your happiest?
Going home to Detroit on my 60th birthday.
What is your greatest fear?
I don’t like flying, but I don’t know if I’d call that my greatest fear, because I get on a plane twice a week. I always have nightmares about forgetting my lines in a song when I’m on stage, but that’s just an artist’s fear.
What is your earliest memory?
I remember when my little sister was brought home from the hospital; I must have been about three. Everybody was cooing and clucking over her and I got jealous and I bit her fi ngers. It’s terrible, isn’t it? She was a really pretty baby, too.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I don’t like that when I’m deeply hurt I can put on a cold front. I will put up a wall.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My mother.
What is your most treasured possession?
I have a little prayer book that I got for my first communion and my mother wrote in it. It has a little indented Christ on the cross. It’s very pretty. I have it in my drawer and I always look at it.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Probably… wit.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I think I’m actually OK with who I am. Maybe my baby scar isn’t too nice. I had the same cut on the same caesarean scar four times. Now that’s a serious scar, so if I had to change something, it would be that.
What is your all-time favourite book?
Lenin’s Tomb by David Remnick. It was fascinating. It took me two years to finish; you have to go very slow because there are so many footnotes.
Your favourite film?
Gone With The Wind – I watch it once a month and I never get tired of it. I can do the entire dialogue of each character. That’s pathetic, yeah?
Your favourite music?
I really like Beethoven, but the song I’m going to have played at my funeral is When I Fall In Love, sung by Nat King Cole.
Your favourite meal?
Pasta, usually with mozzarella, tomato and a bit of basil.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Clark Gable… and Frank Langella – he is such a great actor, my number one choice.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
After I had done the Parkinson show, I ended up at a party. Everybody had seen the show and a blue-rinsed lady came over to me, obviously very wealthy, and said, ‘I didn’t know you had a brain.’ It was very funny.
Do you believe in aliens?
Yeah, to think that we are alone in this universe is just arrogant. How can we be?
What is your secret vice?
I watch You’ve Been Framed! I’ve got a slapstick sense of humour so I cry with laughter.
Do you write thank-you notes?
No. Just thankyou emails sometimes.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
I always say ‘I know’ even when I don’t know. I know, I know, I know… I don’t know and I say it anyway…
What would improve the quality of your life?
A little bit less stress.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘See you next time around’.
Unzipped, Suzi’s one-woman show, runs from 6 to 14 September at the Play Misty Club in Hackney, London EC2: 07512-829116, www.playmisty.co.uk
I’ve just assembled a poetry book, so I have been working on that. I am now looking for the right publisher. I’m also rehearsing for my one-woman show – Unzipped.
When were you at your happiest?
Going home to Detroit on my 60th birthday.
What is your greatest fear?
I don’t like flying, but I don’t know if I’d call that my greatest fear, because I get on a plane twice a week. I always have nightmares about forgetting my lines in a song when I’m on stage, but that’s just an artist’s fear.
What is your earliest memory?
I remember when my little sister was brought home from the hospital; I must have been about three. Everybody was cooing and clucking over her and I got jealous and I bit her fi ngers. It’s terrible, isn’t it? She was a really pretty baby, too.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I don’t like that when I’m deeply hurt I can put on a cold front. I will put up a wall.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My mother.
What is your most treasured possession?
I have a little prayer book that I got for my first communion and my mother wrote in it. It has a little indented Christ on the cross. It’s very pretty. I have it in my drawer and I always look at it.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Probably… wit.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I think I’m actually OK with who I am. Maybe my baby scar isn’t too nice. I had the same cut on the same caesarean scar four times. Now that’s a serious scar, so if I had to change something, it would be that.
What is your all-time favourite book?
Lenin’s Tomb by David Remnick. It was fascinating. It took me two years to finish; you have to go very slow because there are so many footnotes.
Your favourite film?
Gone With The Wind – I watch it once a month and I never get tired of it. I can do the entire dialogue of each character. That’s pathetic, yeah?
Your favourite music?
I really like Beethoven, but the song I’m going to have played at my funeral is When I Fall In Love, sung by Nat King Cole.
Your favourite meal?
Pasta, usually with mozzarella, tomato and a bit of basil.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Clark Gable… and Frank Langella – he is such a great actor, my number one choice.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
After I had done the Parkinson show, I ended up at a party. Everybody had seen the show and a blue-rinsed lady came over to me, obviously very wealthy, and said, ‘I didn’t know you had a brain.’ It was very funny.
Do you believe in aliens?
Yeah, to think that we are alone in this universe is just arrogant. How can we be?
What is your secret vice?
I watch You’ve Been Framed! I’ve got a slapstick sense of humour so I cry with laughter.
Do you write thank-you notes?
No. Just thankyou emails sometimes.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
I always say ‘I know’ even when I don’t know. I know, I know, I know… I don’t know and I say it anyway…
What would improve the quality of your life?
A little bit less stress.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘See you next time around’.
Unzipped, Suzi’s one-woman show, runs from 6 to 14 September at the Play Misty Club in Hackney, London EC2: 07512-829116, www.playmisty.co.uk