At 83, Bacall Is Still Bold and Beautiful

So, is there a next gig lined up?

"I wish," she says, like a slingshot. "I'm open for business all the time."

And Ms. Bacall knows the business will come.

"My life is okay," she says, laughing. "As long as I'm living."

Bacall On ... A Little Bit of Everything

Laughter: "Without humor I think there's no point in anything. I mean, I don't know how you would survive without it -- I certainly couldn't."

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Her career:"I wanted to be on the stage. My goal was not movies -- that just happened accidentally. And you know, that's just the way things happen . . . and you have to go along with it."

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The news business:"I'm kind of a news junkie. I love to watch the news, even though I think it's mostly not brilliantly done. . . . I knew Ed Murrow quite well. I tell you, there's no Ed Murrow around."

* * * 'The Walker:'"I'm very lucky to have been in 'The Walker.' I'm very lucky to be able to work in a decent part, you know, and not be just carrying a tray -- which I could probably just barely do."

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Today's stars:"They all call themselves stars, and they're not stars. . . . They have their moment in the sun, they make more money than I've ever made. And so in today's world, on the red carpet, they're stars. I do not consider them stars."

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Airplane travel:"It's so horrible to go through airports these days. I am not in the class of private planes, you know. . . . That's the one thing about making a lot of money that I think is really valuable . . . a private plane."