The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, and there was really no call for that, except on Saturday Night Live.

One of the remarkable things about my career is that it has been marked by steady, incremental progress. No sudden spikes up, and no sudden downfalls, either.

It's been five years worth of planning and negotiating to bring this to a reality.

I could do John Wayne, Jack Benny, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and entertain my friends. But I never seriously considered it as a career choice.

As an actor, I felt I couldn't compete. I wasn't as cute as the leading man; I wasn't as brilliant as Robin Williams.

I was 36, and I had decided to quit acting because it was so disappointing.

The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, and there was really no call for that, except on Saturday Night Live.