Quotes by Eli Wallach

• And I did Batman, too. I did Mr. Freeze. I get more mail for him than anything I've ever done.
• And that movie was underrated - Nuts - because it deals with a terrible subject, but It's very well done.
• And then the first was The Misfits, which I enjoyed very much, with Marilyn and Gable.
• All of these stories bounced around in my mind for a long time.
• But Clint I love, because Clint was my mentor. I knew nothing about making an Italian movie.
• This country has a complex about age. It's unbelievable. If you're over thirty, you've had it in this country.
• Well, I was getting a lot of money then, and I wasn't getting any Hollywood films, so I just did those. I'd always do a play in between. Whenever I ran low on funds, I'd always rush off to do a movie somewhere.
• John Huston was a superb master. He knew how to make good films. I did three things with him. One is called Independence. It plays in Philadelphia, for free. It's been playing there for 25 years.
• What is it in my makeup that makes me grab any offer and fly around the world? Will I ever be satisfied? Can't I ever just rest?
• When I saw the movie, I said, I wish I had heard the music. I would have ridden the horse differently.
• I've worked with wonderful actors like Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda.
• Yes, I won the Bafta. I thought the British were very intelligent.
• Well, I go to the theater today, and its curtain - there is no curtain in this play; the lights go down and go up - and we start. And I live this character for two hours. There are only two of us in the play. And It's a complete experience.
• So I wanted to show what I did with the money. So I got red silk shirts, beautiful hats, wonderful saddles, a great horse, and two gold teeth. So that was the way I did it.
• The big secret in acting is listening to people.
• The trouble with that movie is that you had to see Chinatown the day before you saw The Two Jakes.
• My wife says that stage acting is like being on a tightrope with no net, and being in the movies, there is a net - because you stop and go over it again. It's very technical and mechanical. On stage you're on your own.
• My first Western was called The Magnificent Seven.
• When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.
• I met my wife and, for the next ten years, we did no films at all. She did the first movie and then I did several after. My first movie was written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Kazan and was called Baby Doll.
• Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you've got a pretty neck.
• I always end up being the evil one, and I wouldn't hurt a fly.
• Even if I don't want to slow down, I'm slowing down.
• But I went to the University of Texas in the 30s, and while there I learned to ride. Mostly polo ponies.
• Well, I've maybe gotten 200 requests for interviews about Marilyn, and I just decided I'm gonna do my own.
• Everyone thinks acting is easy. It's far from easy, but it's the most gratifying thing I do.
• I love to tell stories and this is my way of getting them down on paper.
• I always wanted to tell stories and act.
• I never dreamed I would do Westerns.
• I never lost my appetite for acting.
• I was an original member of the Actors' Studio.
• I'd come out of the army after five years as a medic. I was a medical administrator and we ran hospitals, and I was a Captain in the army at the end, in 1945.
• One thing changes every evening: It's the audience, and I'm working my magic. I'm always learning from it.
• I've learned that life is very tricky business: Each person needs to find what they want to do in life and not be dissuaded when people question them.
• I've never lost my appetite for acting; it's innovative and challenging.