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.
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.