Biografia

He did not have an agent or a manager.

He felt the lead role in Tom Jones (1963) wasn't serious enough and agreed to star only if he got a producing credit; he later traded the credit for profit participation. He later earned an Oscar nomination for this role.

He had been considered for many roles in the James Bond franchise before being cast in Skyfall (2012).

He was in the same class with Peter O'Toole at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

He was originally chosen for the title role in Lawrence d'Arabia (1962) after a screen test shot over four days at a cost of £100,000. He later baulked at the film's monumental shooting schedule, and did not want to commit to such a long term contract and opted to play the title role in Tom Jones (1963), which gave him his first Oscar nomination.

Call me Sir if you like! Maybe people in America think being a Sir is a big deal. But I think we should all be misters together. I think the Sir thing slightly perpetuates one of our diseases in England, which is snobbery. And it also helps keep us 'quaint,' which I'm not a great fan of. You don't get much with the title anymore. That was all carved up by the robber barons in the Middle Ages.

[speaking in 1961] "My job is acting, and that is why I hate interviews or lectures, explaining myself to an audience."

I'm not the romantic type ... I'm a bit like the late, great Peter Sellers, only happy in character roles.

After I played a homosexual character in Un uomo senza importanza (1994), an American journalist asked if I'd have a rainbow flag on my car's bumper. I said I don't 'do' bumper stickers, but if I did, I'd be pleased to use that one. After all, everyone's included in the rainbow, aren't they?

[on Sabato sera, domenica mattina (1960)] "I was the first man to be seen sleeping with another man's wife in an English film."