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" I wanted to become an actor, but I didn't want to admit it. "

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" Along came a police lieutenant named Columbo, and my life would never be the same. "

" I remember being amazed that actors had a union. I thought only coal miners had unions, or guys that worked in automobile plants. That's an indication of how naive I was. "

" In the theater, you didn't have any marks. Your instincts in rehearsal told you what the blocking was. On film, they reversed it. They decided ahead of time what your instincts were, before you even arrived. "

" I used to have this idea that you can spend years in the movies and TV and then, at the drop of a hat, say 'Oh, I'll go back and do the theater.' "

" In 1958, I was shooting a movie in Florida, and I decided to go to Havana, Cuba, to see what it was like. "

" Hartford had the Mark Twain Masquers, which was fantastic. They had been in business I don't know how many years. They knew how to build sets and sell tickets and put on a play. My day started at night. When I left the office, that's when my day began. "

" The whole thing was an actor's dream - getting a character that tickles you so much you can't wait to act as him. "

" When I was a kid growing up, you maybe secretly wanted to be an actor, but you never said. "

" I came to Hollywood and nobody knew me. I was on a coupla TV shows. "

" I've worked with some terrific actors. The list of guys that came on the 'Columbo' show, I mean they were world-class actors from all over the world - Oskar Werner, Laurence Harvey, Donald Pleasence, you know... foreigners. "

" What wouldn't have happened to me if I hadn't ended up in Hartford, Connecticut. "

" I was a street-guy villain. I was a street-corner villain. I was an illiterate villain. All rough edges. "

" I don't dwell on it. But I guess everybody hopes that they go in their sleep and that it won't be long and painful. "

" I had two ambitions: One was to be in The Actors Studio, and the other was to walk into a bar where actors hung out, and everyone would know that I was a professional actor and I would be accepted. "

" The entertainment industry is loaded with extraordinarily talented people. But the true, genuine originals, they're rare. "

" I lose things. I am preoccupied. I am misty. Eyeglasses? I go through eyeglasses like tissue. "

" I didn't become an actor until I was an old man of 28 or 29. I declared to the world that I was an actor. Nobody heard me, but I did declare it. "

" I do figure every angle of a guy I'm acting - but not consciously 'til afterward. "

" I used to take girls out on a date to Night Court. And I'll tell you, most girls, they got a kick out of going to Night Court. 'Cause you get a lot of laughs... and it's cheap. "

" I've never worried about the grand concepts. "

" I did do my own stunts. "

" I'm not an ace at small talk. "

" It depends how lenient you are with your definition of artist. If you're going to include those who tap dance at the high school recital, then maybe I am. "

" You talk about what a director, he was smart. He said, Turn the camera on! "

" If I'm a guy reading a newspaper, and I hear this actor who I know gets great seats at basketball games, and he's complaining about being typecast, I think, 'Hey man, count your blessings.' "

" I think people identify with Columbo because he is an average man. "

" Columbo was never comfortable if somebody considered him unique or smart. "

" I like stories that grow, that have unpredictable layers. As opposed to Hollywood movies that start out with a lot of shock and noise and peter out into an unconvincing cliche. "

" Oh, I was some efficiency expert. On my first day, I couldn't find my own office in Hartford and wound up in the Post Office. "

" My wife loves to get all dressed up and go out, and I'm this gloomy Virgo. It works because of the mutual recognition that we are two democratic narcissists. She does what she has to do, and I do what I have to do. We respect that. "