But I did a lot of boxing and I was captain of an Australian surf club.

In the beginning I had a real work problem. Every time I had job I had to convince the immigration authorities I was the only man for that job and get a special work permit until I went under contract to MGM.

Anyway, when I was a kid, I dutifully went to the Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College.

I pray and try every day to be a better actor.

I did well as an actor in Australia, and then Paramount invited me over... to have a look at me.

Acting is something I love.

When I said I no longer wanted to be a painter, that I wanted to be an actor, the first thing I did was get a stinking job in an insurance building.

I wouldn't dream of selling my work. I give them to friends, to charities.

When people think it's successful, I'm grateful. When they don't - OK, I'll try again.

I'd much rather turn down a starring role in a bad picture and do a small role in a very good picture.

To put what you see on paper is the same as funneling what you feel through yourself as a performer.

I married at a tender age during my early stage and radio struggles.

The fact that I'm going to be unsuccessful at times is pretty well-balanced by the fact that I'm going to be successful at others.

I was one of the first of the uglies. Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter... were very pretty fellows, and that was the trend. I was one of the first of the uglies to get lucky.

Apart from being interested in a good role, I think it's necessary to make up your mind as to whether it will make a movie that will entertain an audience all over the world and not just in your own backyard.

Art doesn't feed me or fill the void when I am not working. If I haven't worked for six months, I can't paint.

So I went and did an audition and became the biggest radio actor in Sydney, and that's how it all started.

I'm not doing my work for constant success.

Dore Schary was then head of the studio and he wanted to change my name.

To a large degree, those early lean days were self-imposed.

I am proud to be an actor.

Acting doesn't suffice.

I worked at Mark Foy's during the day and studied drama at night.

The most important thing in my life is my work.

But I did a lot of boxing and I was captain of an Australian surf club.

I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist, so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them.

I suddenly realized how much I loved her when we attended Alfred Hitchcock's 75th birthday party last August. There was something magical about that night, and it made me see how much she really meant to me.

I was drawn to boxing because I got beat up as a kid. I was the kid with the piano books in a New York neighbourhood.

In boxing, everybody has their favorites.

People say it's a movie about boxing, but... I don't agree at all. I don't think it's a movie about boxing. Boxing is like a platform. It's just a stage where this is played out.

And I love kick boxing. It's a lot of fun. It gives you a lot of confidence when you can kick somebody in the head.

It's kind of ironic that the two sports with the greatest characters, boxing and horse racing, have both been on the decline. In both cases it's for the lack of a suitable hero.

In those days, boxing was very glamorous and romantic. You listened to fights on the radio, and a good announcer made it seem like a contest between gladiators.

See, I respect boxing because it has given me so much and that's why I will never allow anyone to mistreat the sport of boxing if I can help it.

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

Muhammad Ali was the kind of guy you either loved or hated, but you wanted to see him. I happen to really love him. He brought boxing to another level and always made you laugh.

Handball, swimming, running, jumping, basketball, and boxing were as much a part of me as breathing.

Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.

New York's like a boxing match. In Hollywood, it's like a Fellini movie or something.

All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none. So when the fighter is through, he is through. While he was fighting his management was very excited for him, but now that he is done, that management team is moving on.

When I came into boxing, I brought it to the next level with adverts and doing pantomime and people just got jealous of me doing that.

Boxing is show-business with blood.

I've been a boxing fan ever since I was a kid.

A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There's got to be good guys and there's got to be bad guys. And that's what people pay for - to see the bad guys get beat.

Boxing gave me the opportunities to grow into the person that I am today.

Boxing is a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost.

I like boxing movies. One of the hardest things for me to watch as far as boxing films, is the boxing. The actual boxing usually sucks.

I've always wanted to do a boxing movie.

Sure, there have been injuries and deaths in boxing - but none of them serious.