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You just brought to Broadway ''Elaine Stritch at Liberty,'' a one-woman production. Did you decide to write and star in your own show because there are no great roles for older women?

Absolutely not. It has nothing to do with it at all. I think there are fantastic roles for me.

So what are other actresses griping about?

I don't know. Maybe they want to play younger than they should? I'm lucky in that I have enough directors in the theater world who love to work with me, now that I am behaving myself. I love the role, but I don't want to do this for too long. You know what a vacation would be? To put a costume on and be someone else.

Did you assume people would be interested in your life when you created this role?

No! All I decided to do was tell the truth about myself because I was so relieved that I had overcome horrific problems in my life. I drank because I was scared -- of my own ability and my talent. I knew I had it, and I did not know how to get it out. Booze helped me. I stopped drinking because I wanted to know if I could just show them Elaine with no double extra-dry Tanqueray martinis straight up. Certainly being hit with insulin-dependent diabetes gave my decision a hell of a nudge. I quit. And I was so thrilled that I wanted to tell everybody. I tell the truth, and it has gotten me into a lot of trouble. My dad used to say to me, if you tell the truth all day long, you will end up in jail.

Why do you get away with it now? Could you have told the truth when you were younger?

That is supposition, and I never answer any questions that are supposition. ''What if you never had a drinking problem?'' I did! There is no point in asking questions like that. Whatever happened to me, happened to me. It is out of my hands. I faced up to it, and I overcame a lot of big-time problems that usually emerged because of fear. Fear is the base of what everybody does wrong in their lives.

So that's the secret, overcome your fear?

That and be truthful. The truth works. I had an experience tonight onstage where my blood sugar went too low and I could not remember what I was talking about. When your blood sugar is low, your mind is not there. You cannot connect. It was the first time it has ever happened to me in the theater, and it happened tonight.

What did you do?

I told the audience that I was having trouble with my blood sugar, give me 10 minutes and I will be back with you. I went off, and everyone sat there in that theater waiting for me. A couple of people shouted, ''Come on!'' Shirley MacLaine was there and told me that she and a few others wanted to lynch the people that were complaining. She said, ''We were happy to wait to hear what you had to say.'' What a lovely compliment -- and from a consummate actress, I must say. So I came back on stage at 8:20 p.m., and started all over again. I was a little woozy to begin with, but I had some orange juice in me and I got back on track. I said to them, ''Would you applaud for me now'' -- I needed to get the timing right -- and I told them the same joke again and they laughed. We had a good time. But it was hard.

In Bea Arthur's one-woman show, she tells dirty jokes. You are notorious for talking like a truck driver-- what is it about actresses in their 70's and swearing?

If I am late for a performance and the traffic is heavy, and I can't get crosstown, you say ''Oh this [expletive] traffic!'' I love the expression. It is strong. It is good to use when things are important, you want emphasis. But I never use it when it pertains to sex, ever, because I don't think that is funny.

Do you curse aging?

No. The only thing I ever say about age is what Bette Davis said -- it is not for sissies. I don't feel old. And I look the way I am supposed to.

I have not had any of that surgical stuff. I am too curious to find out exactly how I progress every day of my life naturally. That is what fascinates me.

How were you able to ward off all the pressure in show business to stay young-looking?

I never thought about not getting old. Look how fortunate I am. I am able to go out and have 1,300 people clap for me at night. They don't care how old I am. If I have the talent to amuse, that is a wonderful gift. My life is where it should be. And as I say in the play, it almost all happened without me. Wouldn't that have been a shame? I know exactly what is happening to me every single second of my life. It is all black and white. There is no gray anymore. It is tough. But it beats escape. The only escape I want to do is play some wonderful parts when I finish playing myself. I am going to try to do a part that tops me.

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