Personal Quotes
(about filming dinner scenes on Dallas) "The continuity girl goes crazy. The poor
dear, my gosh! Because, you take a bite, you gotta remember when you took the bite,
what words, that sort of thing. If you sit down with Pat Duffy, who plays Bobby, and
Larry at a meal like that, it's like sitting down with two of the worst brats in the neighborhood! They pull more schitck at that table. They send the scripts up. It is pandemonium! It's a minor miracle that anything gets done."
(about his heart surgery) "One person who has really been an inspiration for me in
this is my good friend Barbara Bel Geddes, who underwent coronary bypass surgery
herself about three years ago. I've learned some things from Barbara. One thing I
learned is that you don't accomplish anything by sitting around the house after something
like this - except to get yourself good and bored. I was one of those that encouraged her
to come back to the show, and I've never seen Barbara looking happier or more healthy looking than since she returned to Dallas. Seeing her return has been a real inspiration. It shows how you can come back from heart surgery."
(about his choice to go ahead with open heart surgery in January, 1986, despite the risk of losing his job on Dallas) "There is always another part. But there is only one life!"
"Any time you get in an area that takes a great deal of skill, you'll find that the tendrils
are much more sensitive. People talk about actors being temperamental, but that sort
of thing is everywhere."
"Once somebody said to me, `How can you stand to work in a tent?' Well, people are people wherever you go, and a performance is a performance. It's your job and it's not fair to let an audience down. I will not relax the standards of what I feel should be done."
"You know, people say 'Wait and go to heaven.' Well, if heaven's like they claim it is,
I don't want to go. I'd get bored."
"You should never envy anyone. One day you might be in that person's position and
it might not be so nice."
"The only way to enjoy golf is to be a masochist. Go out and beat yourself to death."
"I'm not a religious man. As a matter of fact, I think religion is one of the biggest evils
in this world. Think of the world's wars, almost all of them have started because of
religion. I have my own attitude to this life. Hell, you can't look up at the sky and
not think there's some superhuman force at work. But I don't know what it is."
"When I found out that I could carry a tune, well, I came to realize that I had a gift,
that it was a kind of a blessing. And I think if you're given something special, you
ought to try and give that something back. If you don't, it's a sin. No question."
(About his work on Dallas) "I started out a long time ago, and now the younger
generation knows who I am. My daughter is a part of that younger generation, and
I owe it to her not to act like an old man."
(About his job on Dallas) "When I was offered the role of Farlow, I was thrilled. It
meant I could be home every night with my family."
"Success can be harder to take than failure in a lot of ways. It brings with it a responsibility. You have to learn that all the highs don't last forever. For every high,
there's a corresponding low. It's why young kids often go to pieces. When they get so
popular they can't go out of their hotel rooms, that's when they turn to drugs.
Success can be very dangerous, very heady."
(About retirement) "I'm just having too much fun. As long as I can sing well, I'll
keep at it. The minute I feel that the voice is getting down, the minute I feel that I
can't cut the mustard, I'll quit."
Facts
From 1971-1992 he was actor Edward James Olmos's father-in-law
through the actor's marriage to his daughter Kaija.
Worked as a representative for the Douglas Aircraft Corporation
in Southern California before embarking on his singing and acting career
Enjoyed golf
President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG). [1958-1959]
Lost the film lead in "South Pacific" because he couldn't get out
of his MGM contract.
During the shooting of Annie Get Your Gun (1950), he broke his leg
when his horse fell on him. He was laid up for six weeks.
Portrayed Curly in the Original London cast of Oklahoma, Fred Graham in
Kiss Me Kate (1953), and Hajj in Kismet (1955). Baritone Alfred Drake
originated all three roles on Broadway.
Esther Williams gave his daughter Kaija swimming lessons.
Grandfather of Mico Olmos and Bodie Olmos
Has some Irish heritage. A lot of his distant family reside in Ireland.
