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.

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

You weren't going to the theatre to change the world, but you had a chance to affect the world, the thinking and the feelings of the world.

Speech is a very important aspect of being human. A whisper doesn't cut it.

If you live in an oppressive society, you've got to be resilient. You can't let each little thing crush you. You have take every encounter and make yourself larger, rather than allow yourself to be diminished by it.

People who lusted after Marilyn Monroe had no idea she stuttered. It is the secret of her sexiness, actually.

I'd like to film a British commercial; they're better than American ones.