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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.

[on Das Phantom der Oper (1925)] The passion and drama in the Lon Chaney version is unsurpassable. He was superb, he was superb. I owe a lot to Lon Chaney.

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.

You should never cease to be amazed by good things.