Quotes

[on Samuel Fuller] Sammy was a funny guy to go around with. He could be in his own world; you know, in a fog about things other people found very normal.

[on Le gouffre aux chimères (1951)] It was beautifully done, but did not do well because it turned people off.

I was never a movie star. A star's like the world champion, who fights once or twice a year because that's all he has to do. I was more like a club fighter, who had to fight at least once a month or he will starve to death.

When [J'ai vécu l'enfer de Corée (1951)] came out with me in the leading role, Billy Wilder bumped into me at the studio and said, "You did it, you son of a gun--I knew you could or I never would have recommended you".

There weren't a lot of redheaded people working in pictures. The cinematographers had a hell of a lot to say about things, and they liked guys with dark hair, eyes and skin because they photographed better in black-and-white . . . But one night a guy came to the theater and said, "I like your work and think I can get you work in pictures". I had a red beard and red hair, and Republic had just gone to Trucolor . . . they needed a guy for the part of Red in Under Colorado Skies (1947). It was a small part but I was paid $40 a day and I thought, "Where has this been all my life?"

I never turned much down. At first I was serious about my work, then it came to me that unless you were working for one of the big studios you weren't going to win awards or be taken too seriously.