Quotes

I've always felt like a thoroughbred without the proper track to run on.

[on playing villains] You always got to find the humanity in the character, no matter how bad he is. If you play him on the money, you're in trouble.

[2009 comment on being typecast as villains] Typecasting set in for me the day I beat the shit out of Al Pacino [in Scarecrow (1973)]. Typecasting set in with The Seven-Ups (1973). I could have stopped, but I didn't have much of a choice in that. The parts were presented to me, and I wanted to work as an actor. Most of those parts were the antagonist, so in the end, I established myself as a Hollywood heavy. However, I know other actors who chose not to do something like that, and they have had very marginal careers. I've had a career. I've survived attrition, and I've been able to work for the better part of thirty-five plus years.

[on acting in movies for Ruggero Deodato] Ahh, Ruggero Deodato. Yeah, he's all bullshit. He's a little man, he's short, and he's got a big mouth. But I love Ruggero -- I had more fun working with him than anybody else. I know all about his crassness and his brutality, but you can't let it reach you. He's very talented, and he can be very funny -- you have to have a thick skin with him. He will test your mettle, but when he knows that you know he's bullshitting you ... I had a lot of good times with him.

[on Menahem Golan] He is the supreme bandit of Hollywood. The Godfather of Israel -- any producer from Israel, they owe it all to Menahem. I know he has a reputation for being a dastardly guy, but he fed my family, and he's always been straight with me. I remember Chuck [Chuck Norris] telling me at the time [1985], "If you're going to work with Menahem, get your cash on the barrel head." There's no deal on the back end, no points -- it's cash and carry. What can I say about Menahem? Tough old Israeli Jew who's been loyal to me and I've been loyal to him. He's one of the few producers I've known who's driven out to me and knocked on the kitchen window. There's no bullshit with Menahem. And he's an artist in his own right.