Eli Wallach Quotes & Sayings

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. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

The richest man is the one with the most powerful friends. — Eli Wallach

This country has a complex about age. It's unbelievable. If you're over thirty, you've had it in this country. — Eli Wallach

In the book, I tell the story of seeing old movies when I was young and acting out scenes at home. Now I get scripts, and I act them out. — Eli Wallach

One thing changes every evening: It's the audience, and I'm working my magic. I'm always learning from it. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

From the age of four or five. I went to see a lot of Westerns then. But it was silent movies and I loved everything that happened then. — Eli Wallach

But I went to the University of Texas in the 30s, and while there I learned to ride. Mostly polo ponies. — Eli Wallach

I don't act to live. I live to act. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

And I did Batman, too. I did Mr. Freeze. I get more mail for him than anything I've ever done. — Eli Wallach

No, I never thought of it in those terms. I used to go into agents' offices and they'd have pictures of these handsome movie men and I knew I'd never be up there. I'm a journeyman actor. I didn't think about stardom. — Eli Wallach

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? — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

I never dreamed I would do Westerns. — Eli Wallach

The big secret in acting is listening to people. — Eli Wallach

Recipe? Recipe? We don' need no stinkin' recipe. — Eli Wallach

Well, I've maybe gotten 200 requests for interviews about Marilyn, and I just decided I'm gonna do my own. — Eli Wallach

I always end up being the evil one, and I wouldn't hurt a fly. — Eli Wallach

The trouble with that movie is that you had to see Chinatown the day before you saw The Two Jakes. — Eli Wallach

All of these stories bounced around in my mind for a long time. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

Everyone thinks acting is easy. It's far from easy, but it's the most gratifying thing I do. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach

When I saw the movie, I said, I wish I had heard the music. I would have ridden the horse differently. — Eli Wallach

I was an original member of the Actors' Studio. — Eli Wallach

If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working? — Eli Wallach

I never lost my appetite for acting. — Eli Wallach

Even if I don't want to slow down, I'm slowing down. — Eli Wallach

Yes, I won the Bafta. I thought the British were very intelligent. — Eli Wallach

And that movie was underrated - Nuts - because it deals with a terrible subject, but It's very well done. — Eli Wallach

I've never lost my appetite for acting; it's innovative and challenging. — Eli Wallach

My first Western was called The Magnificent Seven. — Eli Wallach

Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you've got a pretty neck — Eli Wallach

And then the first was The Misfits, which I enjoyed very much, with Marilyn and Gable. — Eli Wallach

Fifty million dollars is not to be sneezed at. Of course, I never catch cold. — Eli Wallach

But Clint I love, because Clint was my mentor. I knew nothing about making an Italian movie. — Eli Wallach

What do I need a movie for? The stage is on a higher level in every way, and a more satisfying medium. Movies, by comparison, are like calendar art next to great paintings. You can't really do very much in movies or in television, but the stage is such an anarchistic medium. — Eli Wallach

I love to tell stories and this is my way of getting them down on paper. — Eli Wallach

I've worked with wonderful actors like Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda. — Eli Wallach

I always wanted to tell stories and act. — Eli Wallach

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. — Eli Wallach