About everything I ever have done, in the way of lawsuits against studios, I`ve won them all, because I was right every time.

I got into the business to put a roof over my head. I wasn`t looking for star status. I just wanted to keep working.

They really stuck it to me. I was young and dumb. I said a couple things about being under contract that they didn`t like, like that I felt like a ham in a smokehouse. They were waiting to get back at me by laying me off. We went to court and got out of my contract. I didn`t want somebody in an office guiding my career. If I had a failure, I wanted it to be my failure. If I had a success, I wanted it to be my success. [on his conflicts with Warner Brothers, in relation to his contractual obligations to the "Bret Maverick" (1981) TV series]

I don`t like to speak in public. It scares the devil out of me.

Marriage is like the Army; everyone complains, but you`d be surprised at the large number of people who re-enlist.

I`m a Spencer Tracy-type actor. His idea was to be on time, know your words, hit your marks and tell the truth. Most every actor tries to make it something it isn`t [or] looks for the easy way out. I don`t think acting is that difficult if you can put yourself aside and do what the writer wrote.

[Asked if he would ever do a nude scene] "I don`t do horror films."