I do prefer the stage. It's really the granddaddy of them all.

John Huston was the kind of director that totally left you alone. Not every actor always does it right, every time, but most of the time he was re-directing someone. He was making tight adjustments, and not even in terms of interpretation because he knew that by the time that the character had been filmed... well, he got it right when he cast you.

After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.

We Jews have a special attachment to the Book. The study of page after page in tomes yellowing with age was obligatory.

You always draw on your experiences with live audiences to know how to do comedy on films. You're working for a laugh that may or may not come six months later, but you're working in a vacuum at the time you are doing it.

Despite a large body of work in films, TV, theatre and concerts, I am viewed by many as a Jewish artist. I do not resent the label, except for the fact that I disapprove of labels in general.

Although I am deeply grateful to a great many people, I forgo the temptation of naming them for fear that I might slight any by omission.