- If it had not been for Benjamin Britten (the composer), I wouldn't have been an actor. He gave me belief, self-belief.
- Sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success, and in some ways it's better to have failure at the beginning of your career, or your life.
- [on The Phantom of the Opera (1925)] The passion and drama in the Lon Chaney version is unsurpassable. He was superb, he was superb. I owe a lot to Lon Chaney.
- I think one of the best words in the English language is compassion. I think it holds everything. It holds love, it holds care... and if everybody just did something. We all make a difference.
- [on auditioning for Gene Kelly for a role in Hello, Dolly! (1969)] He said, "Listen kid: What we're looking for is an attractive idiot. Now my wife thinks you're attractive, and I think you're an idiot". And that's how I got the part of the attractive idiot in the film Hello, Dolly! (1969).
- [on Frank Sinatra] He had such an influence. He was the most and still is the most remarkable singer to me, with the phrasing and his length of phrase.
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