No one asked me to be an actor, so no one owed me. There was no entitlement.

One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter.

I do not know if it is true that all actors want to direct and all directors want to act, but in 1972 I tried directing and decided I had better stick to acting.

Stuttering is painful. In Sunday school, I'd try to read my lessons, and the children behind me were falling on the floor with laughter.

So in my junior year, I switched to the drama department.

I got out of the Army - in my world - I came to New York, for instance, when the civil rights movement was just beginning, and that created a certain energy, a certain rumble, a certain impetus for black actors.

Love is just love, it can never be explained.