Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I'd wanted to be an actor from the age of five.
I was a stage-struck child from about 5 years onward.
Playing Fagin in the play and film was a small miracle.
Summer of 1967 was one of the happiest times of my life.
I would have liked to have been a professor of sociology.
Ive no regrets. You take responsibility for your actions.
I've no regrets. You take responsibility for your actions.
Fate destined me to play 'Fagin.' It was the part of a lifetime.
My portrayal of Fagin was all to do with my experience in comedy and revue.
I felt very insecure about whether I was up to recreating my stage 'Fagin' in front of a camera.
Pressure makes people react in different ways. Some people plunge in, and others take the way out.
I went to the London School of Economics to study sociology and psychology on a serviceman's grant.
I always write 'Fight' on the mirrors - that goes way back to the times when you had to fight apathy.
I grew up with music hall and revue and was used to filling in the little gaps here and there to get bigger audience reaction.
Fate destined me to play Fagin. It was the part of a lifetime, and I was the only actor to be in the stage production and in the film.
I'll never forget seeing 'Guys and Dolls' over and over. I used to sit up in the coliseum watching this magnificent musical. Brilliant.
The world is always reinventing itself, and so should you. I used to say, 'I haven't started yet.' Sadly, most people don't develop their potential.
I'd been collecting eccentric moves since I was a kid and didn't even know that the dance step I improvised in 'Be Back Soon' was called a 'pas de basque.'
Now I can see I was at fault for not being more considerate, but when we were doing the show I didn't think it was my job to be considerate to other people.
Working on a film, you don't get time to develop rivalries, but the theatre is like a little village, and the differences between me, Lionel and Georgia grew.
My training was that you fill in the canvas where it needs colour and polishing. You start with the words on the first night and keep adding bits of business.
For me, making the show work was getting belly laughs - like most variety artists. But the straight actor believes you fix your performance in rehearsal and that's it.
I never thought about settling down. I was obsessed with my career - I was blinkered. I finally met a woman who was worthy of me. Then we settled down and had many children.
If we destroy the biosphere, then mankind will die. We all waste our time worrying about stupid wars and petty jealousy and greed, and all the time, we're sitting on a time bomb.
I've worked with the old dames and knights - Edith Evans, Ralph Richardson - they're the most incredibly humble, kindly people because they are so big that they don't need to be unpleasant.
The day after the Oscars, I flew back to London to film a television play for Anglia. It was a big mistake because you never really get acknowledged for wanting to work in England, as I did.
I was offered Fagin-type roles, but I wanted to do new things. I could have worked in America, but there was a recession in the British film industry, and I wanted to work in England. I've no regrets.
My proudest moment was the number 'Reviewing the Situation.' I suspect that, because I gave my all to the role and because I was working with such a fine team of people, it inhibited my future career.
I think I'm a straight actor who occasionally does musicals; most people think I'm an eccentric comedian. It's amazing how many years you can spend in this business just sorting out something as simple and basic as that.
My father and my uncle used to be amateur monologuists because their generation grew up with Henry Irving and the like, and they had that style of delivery, of declamation: 'The Belllllls!' What we call 'ham' now, larger than life.
I don't think a professional agent or theatre manager would say my career had gone as well as perhaps it should have after that first 'Oliver!' success, but then again I was never really intending to have a career in the professional theatre in the first place.
There are names like Savoy Hotel, Caruso, Shangri-La, Pavlove, Mount Everest and the Treorchy Male Choir that just hang up there as peaks of excellence - perfect things that we simply take for granted as symbols of greatness. So imagine how delighted and honoured I am to join with all the other small peaks in congratulating the Choir of Choirs on its anniversary. In admiration, since I was a boy!