In my day England, Scotland, Wales had 80 drama schools. There are none left. So there's no training, no discipline.

An Oscar is a symbol that is known in every corner of the world.

I'm Irish. That means I'm Catholic. But, truth is, now I'm a retired Christian.

The only thing I've ever been interested in teaching anyone in life is cricket.

A few years back I was asked if I would go and meet a director and his various acolytes, and it occurred to me halfway through the meeting that what I was doing was auditioning. And I thought, 'Well, hang on buddy. I've done half a century of this.'

I can make the best French toast.

I suggest that an education and reading and facts aren't bad things on which to ponder a few notions.

I've played farce on the stage, but I have never played any sort of comedy on the screen.

No one should ever know where conduct ends and acting begins. Conduct unbecoming. That's what acting is.

I take whatever good part comes along.

The common denominator of all my friends is that they're dead.

All the minor sports injuries you acquire over the years begin to multiply like flies when you get over 70.

My father was a racetrack bookie.

When I work with young people, I grab energy from them by the handsful.

A rubber neck is a necessary part of equipment.

I love working with young people which to me is a big kick.

I tell my children to avoid theatre and go into cinema and TV.

I'm a working stiff, baby, just like everybody else.

If I'm not at my study by 10:00, 10:30, forget it, I can't write a word.

My own favorite is something called Rogue Male.

There is a legend. And to protest is daft.

We were in the Arabian Desert for nine months. And I was having the time of my life. It could have been an archeological expedition, a military expedition.

Where do I begin? I loved working with Kate Hepburn, which was one of the highlights of my life; Working with Richard Burton in Beckett was another great joy.

Writing is a kind of performing art, and I can't sit down to write unless I'm dressed. I don't mean dressed in a suit, but dressed well and comfortably and I have to be shaved and bathed.

For me, life has either been a wake or a wedding.

Irish women are always carrying water on their heads, and always carrying their husbands home from pubs. Such things are the greatest posture-builders in the world.

I can't stand light. I hate weather.

Actors have to stay optimistic. The moment we start thinking otherwise, we're dead.

I love working with the young.

I know nothing at all about women. They are an amazing, beautiful mystery.

I can now tell from the envelope whether or not it is a good script.

Money is always a pressure.

I have my very own Oscar now to be with me until death us do part.

If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

I saw a man killed in front of my eyes just before my eighth birthday.

Every three or four years, I'm hot again.

When I'm doing theatre, I prefer to be doing cinema. When I'm doing cinema, I prefer to be doing theatre.

I love London.

I quite like being old.

I've never looked for women. When I was a teenager, perhaps.

Right after I left drama school, I had a job.

Actors have given up their clout. Now decision making is in the hands of lighting men, designers, bankers, special-effects people. We need to cut that out and just go with the most able trained actors in the business.

Omar Sharif and I spent nine months in the desert, day after day for nine months.

I had a son born to me when I was 50, and I thought, 'He needs someone to bowl to him.'

No one can take Jesus away from me. There's no doubt there was a historical figure of tremendous importance, with enormous notions. Such as peace.

You know when you've found a part that you want to play. You know it because the part takes you over. It sits in the script waiting for you to play him.

Public crucifixion is no fun.

I'm not a French singer.

There are only three indispensable things: the audience, the actor and the author. The rest is dross.

The star-jump technique - that is a big part of being a handball goalkeeper, and I brought that move into football. It is a very effective way of saving a chance.