Quotes

When you think of a movie, most people imagine a two hour finished, polished product. But to get to that two hour product, it can take hundreds or thousands of people many months of full time work.

Of course, I also attribute some of my hearing loss to being in the infantry in World War II. It's probably a combination of heredity and noise exposure.

My father died when I was 4 years old, so I can't really say anything about his hearing.

I have been so fortunate and I really am appreciative of the success I've had.

I had the good fortune of speaking with Orson Welles many decades ago and he said "Success is primarily luck anyway." And I have been very lucky. Of course, Orson Welles was enormously talented and brilliant - so who am I to argue with him!

[on his role as Dragline in Cool Hand Luke (1967)] The marvelous thing about that movie was that as my part progresses, I changed from a bad guy to a good guy. The moguls in Hollywood must have said, "Hey, this fellow can do something besides be a bad guy.".

[on being cast in bad guy roles on television Westerns at the start of his acting career] The big guys were on television and they needed big lumps to eat up. All I had to do was show up on the set, and I got beaten up.