Quotes

[Discussing his role in A Summer Place (1959), with Sandra Dee] What I did basically was knock up Gidget, and you just don't do that!

By 1968, I had to declare personal bankruptcy and lost my house. I was living like a movie star, but wasn't being paid like one. I lived way over my head and got into great trouble and lost everything. I went from a beautiful home, garden, swimming pool in Beverly Hills to living in shabby apartments in downtown Hollywood. By 1970, I was loaded all the time... I'd wake up about 6:30 in the morning, take three aspirins mixed with codeine, slug down half a pint of vodka and then do four lines of cocaine. That was just so I could get the front door open to peek out and see if I could face the day... I would lie, steal and cheat, all those wonderful things that drunks do to get money. I was crafty. Nobody knew how much I drank then. If a bottle was out on the counter, I'd take a swig when I passed it and quickly put it back.

I can remember always being exposed to Broadway and theater people. I can remember sitting with Gertrude Lawrence while she read her reviews in 'The King and I'.

In most of those early films I did for Universal pictures, if you went out for popcorn you missed me.

It took guts for me to walk out of Hollywood, but it would have been worse to stay. I had a house, seven black Cadillac convertibles, and two wrecked marriages. I already had my head turned; turning back was easy. It doesn't matter if I have a beard or a crew-cut. People respond to me because I have a human quality. I know I'll be put down by Hollywood, but I don't speak to anybody out there anyway... I smoke grass and ride cycles, my lifestyle is casual, but I'm not a dope fiend or a hippie freak. I've found strength in Jesus Christ and he's easier to follow than Zen Buddhism. I'm not strung out. I'm a very reasonable, professional actor.

Acting is all I ever wanted. Ever since I can remember, I've studied and read plays. My mother would help me, but my parents didn't want me to become an actor. They preferred something more stable... doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, anything.

[on his role in Palm Springs Weekend (1963)] The best thing about the film was that it was being made in Palm Springs. And I was there to drink and get laid. I remember that a friend of mine and I started at opposite ends of town. Halfway through the movie, we crossed paths. I got everything he got going in his direction, and he got everything I got coming in mine. I mean, the picture was tame compared to the reality.