Acting

Much of the day I have busied myself making notes on the small parts in Shakespeare, often nameless, which are rewarding to the actor if only he'll not dismiss them as beneath his dignity. If I can work it up into a talk I might call it, 'Only a cough and a spit ' ---the phrase so often used by actors to explain away a lack of opportunity.

Onstage, nothing is as important as truth, nothing. As soon as you lie, they know it.

There is a kind of classlessness in the theater. The rehearsal pianist, the head carpenter, the stage manager, the star of the show--all are family.

It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say but how I say it - and how I look when I do and say it.

The secret of staying fresh in a show is to remember that the audience you're playing for that night has never seen it before.