Richard Briers

“I have a great fear of being bored. That's why I do so many different things.”

“Shakespeare is the best. It's the best language, the best stories.”

“I was hopeless at school. I was very good at playing the fool and getting a laugh.”

“Smoking is the most ludicrous, silly thing a person can do. I was a heavy smoker and I was diagnosed with emphysema. It's a bugger.”

“I think the secret of a long marriage is a sense of humour.”

“You have to be a bit of a show-off to be an actor.”

“The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.”

“I'm not a Method actor. I'm a 'what time is the lunch break?' actor.”

“I don't think I'm a star. I'm an actor. I've been a very, very lucky actor.”

“I've always been a worrier. I'd have a wonderful time in a play and then be terrified that it wouldn't be as good the next night.”

“It's all about the words. You've got to listen to the words.”

“I realised that I had a choice to be a star, or to be a jobbing actor. I chose the latter. I have always been a jobbing actor.”

“I love the theatre. It's my home.”

“I'm not a depressive. I'm not a moody bugger. I'm a good-time boy.”

“I've been very lucky. I've had a wonderful career.”

“The Good Life was the first time I was in something that was a huge success.”