Biografía

Had appeared with Charles Bronson in four films: El vengador anónimo 3 (1985), Jauría humana (1981), El búfalo blanco (1977) and Breakheart Pass (1975).

Worked as a stand-up comedian before entering films.

Besides Burt Reynolds, he was the only other actor to appear in both Golpe bajo: El juego final (1974) and Golpe bajo: El juego final (2005). He happened to be on the studio that day and Adam Sandler had him added to the golf scene.

Alfred Hitchcock had planned on using him for one of the leads in his latest film, "The Short Night" (1980), before this was canceled due to the director's declining health. Hitchcock had earlier directed him in his previous film, Trama macabra (1976).

Attended C.W. Post College on a sports scholarship where he played baseball, football and basketball.

[his definition of a character actor] Someone who's most usually not an 8x10 glossy. You know, not a Steve Stunning. They're characters.

[on his status as a "recognizable" character actor] Recognizable, but sometimes people don't know my name. They will say, "Oh, yeah! There's that guy! You were in... Jesus Christ... you were in... in..." So in a way it's good - and in a way it's bad.

One of the tools that an actor has - and it's a trite thing, but you can really use it a lot - is imagination. Really important. And New York City was a great place for me to grow up because I had so many characters to study. I didn't grow up in Oklahoma and then move to the city as an adult and suddenly say, "I want to be an actor." I was around actors all of the time. I was around interesting people - the people of the city.

[on playing villains or otherwise unsavory authority figures] I like those roles. Lee Marvin once told me, "When you play a heavy, every once in a while make the audience like you a little bit." Then they will think, "Wait a minute, he's not such a bad guy. Did you see the way he petted that dog?".

[on meeting David Niven] I was really starstruck... He was through shooting for the day so I asked him if we could just take a walk around the Warners' lot and he agreed. And I was so pleased I was going to get some tips from a real star. And, as we walked, he said to me, "Remember, get every penny you can from the sons-of-bitches.".