Leo McKern

“Never plead guilty.”

“I'm not a star. I'm a character actor.”

“I was never a handsome leading man, so I didn't have to worry about losing my looks.”

“The most difficult thing is to learn the lines. It's a sheer bloody grind.”

“I suppose Rumpole is my alter ego. He's the man I'd like to be, but I'm not.”

“Having a glass eye is a great advantage in the acting trade. You can pop it out on the table and get a big laugh.”

“She Who Must Be Obeyed.”

“The audience is the other actor in the play and if they're not concentrating, it's very, very difficult.”

“I have now given up the stage. I don't enjoy it any more. I've been acting for 50 years.”

“My voice is my fortune.”

“I think acting is a childish profession. I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I mean it's in the sense that you are playing, in a way that children play.”

“An actor's life is a bit like a butterfly's. You're a caterpillar for a long time, and then you're a butterfly for a very short time. Then you die.”