Alan King

Performing is just standing up there and doing something. Performance takes on an edge to it. It has a more dramatic context. ”

Museums are good things, places to look and absorb and learn. ”

I won't eat in a place that has suits of armor. ”

When I was a kid, I used to send away for those ventriloquist kits on the back of comic books. ”

Right when I started in show... Milton Berle was my first idol. When I was a kid, I went to see Milton at Lowe's State, and I never laughed so much, and I said, 'That's who I want to be; that's what I want to be.' ”

My father was a dreamer - my hero. He was a smart, tough guy from Poland, a cutter of lady's handbags, an old socialist-unionist who always considered himself a failure. His big line was: 'Don't end up like me.' ”

My wife is a very attractive woman, and she's always worried about her diet. But she doesn't pay attention to me, and I don't pay attention to her. She's a vegetarian, and it drives me crazy. ”

I don't mind being 65, but nobody is gonna tell me to come in at 5:30 to have the early bird special. ”

It's not easy being a father, but I've been allowed a comeback. ”

I had a sympathetic role in 'thirtysomething,' and in two weeks I'm going to do the role again. But in the movies, I just love the heavies. It's much more fun. Villains are a ball. People have been laughing at me for 50 years, so I love to sit in the back of the theater and listen to them hate me. ”