In the middle of my third Hollywood picture The Magician, the earthquake hit Hollywood. Not the real earthquake. Just the talkies.

Nothing seems to come up to your expectations. But nothing I had heard about Hollywood was enough.

I used to think then that I was Bohemian, but I know now that I am not. I prefer order and precision to untidiness and looseness.

I was appalled at the amount of study necessary in order to qualify in medicine, and gradually my desire was blunted by a keener - and secret - wish to become an actor.

So now it is time to disassemble the parts of the jigsaw puzzle or to piece another one together, for I find that, having come to the end of my story, my life is just beginning.

For me, half the joy of achieving has been the struggle and the fight, the pitting myself against the world and all its competition - and winning.

An actor remembers his first piece of published praise. It is written on his heart.