Alan Ladd

“My parents were so poor when I was a kid, I never went anywhere. I take our youngsters with us because I don't know anything that teaches them so much.”

“Maybe I thought too much about picking up the money and not enough about the really good parts.”

“As long as my pictures go into theaters and we ask people to pay to see what I do on the screen, I should not object if customers want to know what kind of man I am.”

“Being a good host offsets the deprivation and loneliness of my youth.”

“Time scoots along pretty fast when you grow up.”

“I think any movie star who refuses autographs has a hell of a nerve.”

“I wish I were the type who could walk into a place and have everybody love me. But I'm not, and there's no use wishing.”

“I'm the most insecure guy in Hollywood. If you had it good all your life, you figure it can't ever get bad, but when you had it bad, you wonder how long a thing like this will last.”

“I hear about stars being torn to pieces by fans. It never happened to me and I never saw it happen to anyone else.”

“Strangers still leave me self-conscious.”

“When I was on the air a lot my throat and vocal chords got tired. If you don't vary your tones you can't get pretty tired of your own voice.”

“I'm working myself to death.”

“I was never trained for anything.”

“It's natural to want your kids to have all the things you didn't have.”

“I'm shy and can't for the life of me barge around and slap people on the back. I sit in a corner by myself and am tickled to death when someone comes over to talk to me.”

“Not every father gets a chance to start his son off in his own footsteps.”

“I just want to make pictures that are entertaining. I'll leave the scenery chewing to someone else.”

“I don't care how small the parts are, as long as they're good.”

“I never fail to feel let down when I see myself on the screen.”

“Just as Jimmy Stewart and Tyrone Power get 50 percent of the profits, so do I.”