To a large degree, those early lean days were self-imposed.

I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist, so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them.

Apart from being interested in a good role, I think it's necessary to make up your mind as to whether it will make a movie that will entertain an audience all over the world and not just in your own backyard.

Anyway, when I was a kid, I dutifully went to the Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College.

I'd much rather turn down a starring role in a bad picture and do a small role in a very good picture.

When I said I no longer wanted to be a painter, that I wanted to be an actor, the first thing I did was get a stinking job in an insurance building.

I was one of the first of the uglies. Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter... were very pretty fellows, and that was the trend. I was one of the first of the uglies to get lucky.