Quotes

I realized long ago that I could not depend on luck to bring me success. I worked hard, extra hard to improve my chance by increasing my abilities and my experience. It was my goal to accomplish, in my life, something of value and to do it with self-respect and integrity.

Acting is not just "another day, another dollar". If I hate a script or think it's foolish or in bad taste, I'm miserable.

[on working with Paul Muni on A Song to Remember (1945)] He was very difficult to work with. He said he didn't want to hear how I did it, he had no interest in how I portrayed it, he had his own conception of Frédéric Chopin and he told me he'd worked on his role in relation to that conception, and he didn't care how I played it. And that was the approach to teamwork on that film.

[on Linda Darnell] Experienced, beautiful and nice--a nice person.

[on the worst mistake of his career] I got too cocky and I actually turned down a choice role old C.B. offered me in The Ten Commandments (1956): Joshua. I said it was too small and the money wasn't enough. C.B. never spoke to me again and even one line in such a blockbuster would have bolstered my career momentum. John Derek replaced me. What stupidity! Dumb, dumb!