By Stephanie DuBois "When God thought of Mother, He must have laughed with satisfaction and framed it quickly, so rich, so deep, so divine, so full of soul, power and beauty was the conception!"- Henry Ward Beecher

No matter how old you get you're always your Momma's baby and no amount of fame or money can change that. In honor of Mother's Day here are a few celebrities weighing in on the many ways their mothers have impacted their lives and careers and continue to do so.

"Someone asked me on camera who my hero is," says Benjamin Bratt, co-star of NBC's "E-Ring." "I took a long pause and said 'You know it's too damn corny to say it's my mom, but you know, it's my mom." The father of two small children with wife, Talisa Soto, says his goal is to be as good a parent as his mom was to him and that's keeping him as close to home as possible. "I love traveling the world doing films, but if you're a married man aspiring to be not just a good father but a great father, you can't do that. My number one priority in life is to be both that, a good husband and a good father. My mother raised me right."

Speaking of being raised right, Cuba Gooding Jr. may have an Oscar, but he says he still has to answer to mom for his actions. Gooding's last film, "Dirty" about corrupt, rogue cops in L.A. was filled with profanity and violence and she was none too happy. "My mother loved (the 1991 film) 'Boyz N the Hood' but I played Trey (the good kid) in that movie. But what if I'd played Ice Cube's role (the thug)? I told my mom both roles are important to tell that tale. In 'Dirty' I'm the Ice Cube role and I had to be as truthful to the vernacular and actions surrounding the events as I could be for you to see the statement of the movie." Gooding next stars on the big screen in the May 12th opening "Shadowboxer," in which he and Helen Mirren play assassins in a story of sexual deviancy and incest. "This is another one my mom should skip that's all I've got to say. I showed her 'Dirty' by accident. I ain't gonna make that mistake again."

"Blue Collar TV" regular Ashley Drane says prior to meeting her husband, baseball star David Eckstein, it was her mother who encouraged her to believe her prince would some day come. "I had a few boyfriends who were great guys, but we just weren't right for each other," she recalls. "I would talk to my mom and say, 'What's wrong with me, why isn't this working out? He seems to be perfect,' and she'd say 'You know Ashley, when you meet the man you're going to marry you will just know.' I thought she was kind of crazy, but she was right." She adds, "Another piece of advice Mom gave me was right after I'd met David. He'd injured his leg and had to go to Arizona for a few weeks to rehab. He asked 'Why don't you come out to Arizona and visit me?' There was nothing shady about it and he's the most respectful guy and such a gentleman. But I thought 'What would people think?' My mom said, 'Forget about what people think Ashley, you just have to go and claim what's yours.' I said 'You know Mom, you're right.' I booked a plane ticket, went to Arizona and everything just fell into place."

"My mom has been unbelievably supportive through the years," says "Rescue Me" regular Callie Thorne. "She was a single mom bringing up me and my sister and it was a really hard time for her trying to make life look easy when really it was a pretty rough existence for awhile." She adds, her mom is also "a gifted astrologer and because of her advice I've really stuck to my values in this business. The path I've always imagined for myself really has everything to do with her and her motherly advice. When I moved to New York in '91 to become an actress, there were several times I thought I made a terrible life choice. But after studying my horoscope she'd always come back with the same thing, I would never be an overnight success but I would always have longevity." She adds, "Thank God for Moms. Looking back I often am in awe of all that she did and out of the blue I'll be like 'You're so great!'"

Hip-hop/R&B singer-cum-actor Ray J almost fell prey to the gang life while his mother was busy managing his sister, Brandy's career. "I was only 12," he said, "and I wanted all of my mother's attention. I couldn't get it so I sought comfort and camaraderie in the streets, like so many other young guys in the neighborhood. But I can't tell you how many times I got shot at." After a near death experience, Ray J says he knew what to do. "I called my mom and said, 'I need help.'" Last year, he started his own record label, again with Mom's help. "I had to come up with the money, so I got my mom and my sister and family to invest in the project. It's good to have family who believes in you."

Even the mothers who are no longer here continue to shine their lights.

Singer-cum-actor Waylon Payne ("Walking the Line," the upcoming "Hank Garland Story") lost his mom, country star Sammi Smith last year after a three-year long bout with cancer. "It was the worst thing I'd ever gone through in my life. I was Momma's kid. She was like my hero, my everything, you know?" Payne, who's working on a biopic on his Mom with Shelby Lynne and Lorrie Morgan, says his mother's advice always got him through. "And right up to the end she sprang a few good ones on me and it made my whole life make sense."

Ann & Nancy Wilson of the legendary rock group, Heart, lost their mom in March but her memory is still very much alive. "She was just an incredible woman," says Nancy. "It's an honor to mourn her, to grieve for her." She notes her mom, who was a singer/musician herself, always supported their career. "She gave us a lot of power and the family just got tighter in response to her passing, so she's just created even more inspiration."

Wilson, who is the mother of twin six-year-old boys with husband/filmmaker Cameron Crowe, says "It's interesting being a mom now. I find myself following in my mom's shoes all the time. I'm like 'Geez, what happened? I am her.' So she's not really gone."

Neither gone, nor forgotten. As Kahlil Gibran wrote, "The things which the child loves remain in the domain of the heart until old age. The most beautiful thing in life is that our souls remain hovering over the places where we once enjoyed ourselves."