My father wasn't much for show business. He was an insurance man - very well-liked, very warm. He had a lot of friends.

When you're 18, you're just so busy being scared and having fun - a crazy mixture - that you never thought of dying.

Italians are fantastic people, really. They can work you over in an alley while singing an opera.

Frank Sinatra enjoyed my humor, so I could say almost anything to him. I mean, within reason.

You throw your best punch, otherwise don't do it.

I still think funny, and people young and old still come and see me. That's flattering. The day comes that they stop coming, then I'll know that it's time to retire to the Jewish ranch.

Famous people are deceptive. Deep down, they're just regular people. Like Larry King. We've been friends for forty years. He's one of the few guys I know who's really famous. One minute he's talking to the president on his cell phone, and then the next minute he's saying to me, Do you think we ought to give the waiter another dollar?