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.

I am first, and foremost, an actor. That's what I am. To me, a song is a mini-drama. My musical ability informs the actor as well because it gives me a sense of timing that non-musicians don't have. So, one hand washes the other.

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.

As an artist I have an even more abiding interest in the compact between the Arts and Government.

But, when I toil in the field of Jewish culture which I frequently do, I am indeed a Jewish artist.

Right up to the middle of this century all perceptions of the world around us were delivered via the bookshelf or the paper route.

What moves me is neither ethnocentric pride nor sectarian arrogance. I make no claim that Jewish culture is superior to other cultures. But it is mine.