Quotes by Richard Widmark

• I think a performer should do his work and then shut up.
• I was never a part of the Actor's Studio, because two friends of mine started it in 1947 and by that time I'd gone to California.
• I was playing this horrible part. I didn't didn't want to play it because the character was an awful racist. But I'm glad I did it because I met Sidney Poitier.
• John Ford was so funny that I couldn't wait to go to work in the morning.
• Kazan was an old friend, I met him in 1938. He picked up radio jobs for eating money, so I met him on a couple of radio shows. Later on I was in a play he directed.
• I loved Jack Ford. I got him in his later days, and he was a total tyrant and a total autocrat and an Irish drunk. But I had a great time.
• Many of my friends were blacklisted. America should be ashamed of it forever.
• Marilyn was terrible to work with. I was fond of her, she was a nice girl, but she was a damaged girl. She was very difficult. You couldn't get her on the set; she didn't know the words.
• Mankiewicz was a brilliant director.
• I felt pretty comfortable with Westerns, apart from the fact I couldn't ride.
• Hoods are good parts because they're always flashy and attract attention. If you've got any ability, you can use that as a stepping stone.
• Gary Cooper was a good friend. He was a great nature lover. He was like an American Indian, he knew every leaf that was turned over. It was an education to go for a walk with him.
• Ford used to come to work in a big car with two Admiral's flags, on each side of the car. His assistant would be there with his accordion, playing, Hail to the Chief.
• Anne Baxter was a very good actress, Donna Reid was great. You couldn't name an actress I wasn't crazy about.
• Most movies are made today for teenage boys. Once in a while a good one comes along.
• You have to compromise all the way. The only thing that counts is the result.
• There was something about Marilyn. She couldn't act her way out of a bag, but she became an icon because something happened between her and the lens, and no one knows what it is.
• Other actors like to rehearse on film-they like 30 or 40 takes. When you get an actor like that, it becomes difficult for me because I'm ready to quit after number two.
• Cheyenne Autumn was received not too successfully. I still think it was a very good movie. It was kinda Ford's apology for the way he had treated Indians in his past pictures.