My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in
spectacular epics.
[To Louella Parsons, after receiving his first Academy Award nomination for
Come Fill the Cup (1951)]: So many people who have been nominated for an Oscar have had
bad luck afterwards.
[on his role as the dance-marathon barker in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)]: (The role was) a
lifeline for a drowning man, a last chance to show (my) talent as a
serious actor.
[summing up his professional career] 30 years and 55 pictures - not more than five that were any good, or any good for me. I've picked the best from the lousy parts they offered me.
Comedy is harder to do than drama, since comedy roles involve the offbeat, not merely the basic emotions. I like to play both comedy and drama.
Acting is the exaggeration of life, and if you can blow it up and still make it look real, the better your performance. Any actor who loves what he is doing can't take his mind off it.