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

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" Sometimes I was in school plays, but only when the kid they'd originally picked got sick and they asked me to substitute. "

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

" The truth is, no one is like Columbo. "

" Good actors are always looking for props. They're looking for behavior. It makes it a lot easier. You're not solely dependent of what's coming out of your mouth. You're also less self-conscious, less aware of the camera. "

" I just keep working. "

" You thought the stage, you thought Broadway: that was the pot at the end of the rainbow. The idea of being in Hollywood was like going to the Moon or Mars. "

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

" When I was a kid, the idea of gettin' paid to paint your face... listen, I grew up in Ossining, New York, a nice little town by the Hudson, and nothin' ever interested me except being your usual high school big shot, which I was an' loved it, played all the sports and goofed around, always out on the street with the guys, everything was funny t'me. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" Everybody wants to be a movie star. I bet if you ask that guy would he like to be a movie star, he'd say, 'Sure.' "

" I'm just looking to get through the day. "

" I am older than everyone I ever knew. All my dogs are dead. Half a dozen cats, parakeets... all gone. "

" When I was growing up in Ossining, N.Y., playing pool with the guys, the thought that any one of us might become an actor was as far-fetched as being knighted by the queen of England. "

" You think you're in another civilization, another time, and then you see antennas coming out of these hovels, and your mouth falls open when you see the descendants of the Incas shouting 'Columbo! Columbo!' "

" 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. "

" Children ran up to me shouting, 'Columbo!' At first, it gave me great pleasure, but later, I said to myself that those children should have had their own heroes instead of admiring a cop from Los Angeles. "

" It helps an actor an awful lot when he looks like the part. There's nothing more disconcerting, that makes you more anxious or more insecure, than when you don't look like who you're supposed to be. "

" I still get fan mail for Columbo. "

" Most people think glamor is happiness. "

" 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. "

" Usually, I get hired because I'm tall. "

" Strange thing, this television. "

" 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. "

" I once did a film in Russia because I wanted to see what the hell was going on there. "

" Actors know one thing: If you're left just with words, you're in trouble. "

" 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. "

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

" 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'm makin' a lotta dough, everyone knows who you are, and who the hell cares whether you're typecast or not? Also, there's something wrong with complaining about being typecast in something you really enjoy doing. "