Quotes

I didn't care about the movies really. I was tall. I could talk. It was easy to do.

Orson Welles lists Citizen Kane (1941) as his best film, Alfred Hitchcock opts for Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Sir Carol Reed chose The Third Man (1949) - and I'm in all of them.

[on Orson Welles] I know a little about Orson's childhood and seriously doubt if he ever was a child.

My wife told me one of the sweetest things one could hear: "I am not jealous. But I am truly sad for all the actresses who embrace you and kiss you while acting, for with them, you are only pretending."

I was a so-called star because of my limitations and that was always the case. I couldn't do any accents. So I had to pretend. Luckily I was tall, had curly hair and a good voice. I only had to stamp my foot and I'd play the lead -- because I couldn't play character parts.

[on making Citizen Kane (1941) with Orson Welles] Orson must have been about 22 then and I still think he's one of the greatest directors in the world. I don't know why people regard him as a difficult man. He was the easiest, most inspiring man I've ever worked with. He was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing because we were all virgins on that picture.

[on Bette Davis] I loved working with her.

[on Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] Bette [Davis] is determined to make her mark on this picture, and Joan [Crawford] is determined to do the same and not be, how shall I put it, gobbled up by Bette, but for heaven's sake, don't quote me.

[on Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] I think we all wanted it to be a different picture than it was, especially Joan [Crawford]. She felt Bette [Davis] wasn't trying enough to lift the script up to their level instead of simply playing down to it. She never came right out and said it to me but I could see it on her face. Joan wanted it to be a 'quality' picture. I think the movie works well enough for what it is, but it's no Gone with the Wind (1939) or anything resembling a true 'quality' picture.

In Hollywood, those stars who have been around a long while and seem to grow better with time are the ones who regard "stardom" merely as an opportunity to grow.

[on Everett Sloane] You know how he was so ugly there was a certain beauty about him. But he had his nose altered, wore contact lenses instead of his thick glasses, had his hair straightened, and no one wanted him. He became so morose that he walked out into the middle of the road and killed himself.

[to Gore Vidal on Orson Welles] Note how Orson either never smiles on camera, or, if he has to, how he sucks in his cheeks so as not to look like a Halloween pumpkin.