The first duty of society is to give each of its members the possibility of fulfilling his destiny. When it becomes incapable of performing this duty it must be transformed.

I don't remember ever deciding to become a performer. I just always was. I began performing by mimicking the performers on the new television that first took the attention away from me as the baby of the household. I continued performing to put a smile on my grandmother's face and always considered her when accepting or declining roles.

I wanted to be a dancer my whole life. And when I gave it up to act I always had a really sad part of myself that missed it and missed performing and missed being physical in that way.

Before I left for Germany I had gotten accepted to the performing arts high school in New York which was a big dream of mine. And having to leave that was very sad for me.

You put a song on the record or on tape and you stop singing it. You just don't sit around and sing it anymore unless you're performing. That's kind of sad.

When I look back at those pictures of my mother performing - and listen to her recordings - it makes me sad to think that all of that joy she found in her work came to an end. I wish she hadn't had to make that sacrifice even if it was for the benefit of my father and siblings and me.

More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.

Too many younger artists critics and curators are fetishizing the sixties transforming the period into a deformed cult a fantasy religion a hip brand and a crippling disease.

Democracy shows not only its power in reforming governments but in regenerating a race of men and this is the greatest blessing of free governments.

And what we've lost sight of is that performing manual labor with your hands is one of the most incredibly satisfying and positive things you can do.