Quotes

[on how he views himself in his profession] It is very difficult for an actor to talk about himself as a good actor. No matter how successful, there is always the time one realises one has to be better. There is always a large percentage of people who cannot bear the sight of you on the stage or on television. I am always conscious of these people in an audience. They are a challenge to me as an actor. I work hard - as well as I can - hoping they will leave thinking I was not as bad as they thought I was. The knowledge that everyone doesn't like me gives me quite an impetus, stimulates my imagination to communicate, to get through to these people.

[on his public image] I don't mind people thinking of me as Sir John. Sometimes it gets irritating. Because of Sir John, my eldest daughter's boyfriend used to get out the front window when he heard me coming. He thought I was difficult and ruthless and was really frightened of me. I had never seen the lad, so one night I collared him, brought him back into the house, and proved I wasn't like Sir John.

[on his family's reaction to his fame] The boys don't think a great deal of me as an actor and TV star. I think they have quite a bit to put up with from some of their friends about me, but they take it philosophically. About three years ago my wife was watching 'The Power Game,' and Tris saw me on TV for the first time in close-up. 'Oh, no, Mummy,' he said, 'don't tell me there are two of him.'

[on acting] I think you have to be able, as an actor, to try to really feel compassion for the human race, and therefore understand them and be able to show as much as you can the human condition as you see it. I regard myself as a jobbing actor and I work very hard. I am lucky; my work is a job I enjoy. I don't think I have been endowed with a God-given gift. If actors think their talent is God-given and don't work at it, God will soon take it away.

[on actors] Actors who think they are members of a race apart are quite wrong. That is simply a load of old cobblers.

I have no preferences about the types of roles I play. I am just a jobbing actor.

[on John Wilder] When I was first offered the part in The Plane Makers (1963) I read the first three scripts and I liked it. Then the rest of the series grew out of the character we created. Now [in 1965] I think it would be rather interesting to see what happens to him in the world of politics.

[on researching historical figures] I don't believe in doing that - I concentrate on playing the man as the playwright portrays him.