Quotes

I'm an impatient comedian. And I feel the audience is as impatient as me.

Treat acting as a business and don't let it go to your head. You don't want to end up like my friends.

[on his early films] I always played the same type role. I was always cast as Blinky the hero's good friend, who told the girl, usually Betty Grable, in the last reel that the hero really loved her.

I can make any villain lovable and sympathetic. Maybe it's because as a small boy I wanted to grow up to become a man who could fix horse races or second-deal himself four aces in a poker game. About the only thing I could do was become an actor and play the part.

I only smile in public. When I'm alone, I just sort of stare. People know that we actors are frightened. And when they read this, they'll know that I'm depressed.