John Gielgud Quotes

When I first went to America in 1928, there were spittoons everywhere. I remember avoiding spit as it flew past me in Times Square. Very unattractive.

Usually one must go to a bowling alley to meet a woman of your stature.

It is very hard to cast a number of plays adequately from the same company of actors without several parts being miscast.

Being another character is more interesting than being yourself.

One mustn't allow acting to be like stoc kbroker - you must not take it just as a means of earning a living, to go down every day to do a job of work. The big thing is to combine punctuality, efficiency, good nature, obedience, intelligence, and concentration with an unawareness of what is going to happen next, thus keeping yourself available for excitement.

I never accept lengthy film roles nowadays, because I am always so afraid I will die in the middle of shooting and cause such awful problems.

Most of my friends seem to be either dead, extremely deaf or living on the wrong side of Kent.

Ingrid Bergman speaks five languages and can’t act in any of them.

You can be good in a good movie, you can be good in a bad movie, you can be bad in a bad movie, but never, ever, be bad in a good movie.

Acting is half shame, half glory. Shame at exhibiting yourself, glory when you can forget yourself.

I am all in favour of spontaneity, providing it is carefully planned and ruthlessly controlled.