Quotes

I spent most of the money I made on phone calls.

I think you can have a whole terrific, smart career as a second and third banana and work more and have much less risk than the lead guy. But I like being the lead guy.

[As a director]: One of the things I love about directing is I love actors, because no matter how complex they are, once you get down to working and talking to them and the toughest guy will want you to open them up and he wants to show you stuff he was afraid to show anybody before.

[on his son's, Josh's arrest, at a bar brawl]: There were people who lived across the street who said there was no fight. How come nobody is suing for being hit? There was no fight.

[on the death of Jane Agee, his first ex-wife, in a car crash]: I think it was she was avoiding a deer. I was surprised, and oh, I was affected. Yeah, I was really ripped up.

[on winning his first Emmy Award in 1970 for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)]: Well, you start these shows out with a bang, don't you? Well, I ... I had no speech. I ... started to write one and my wife came in and asked me, what I was doing. I said I was writing a speech. And she said, 'What for? You haven't got a chance in hell!' But here I am. Geez!