NORMAN LLOYD

I imagine I was supposed to become a lawyer or something. But this was the Depression; the lawyers I saw were all driving cabs. So I thought, 'Well, if I'm going to be badly off anyway, I might as well be badly off in the theater, where you get used to it.'

I'm very fond of Amy Schumer. I think she's terrific, an enormous talent.

Karl Malden! A dear, dear, dear friend. I loved Karl. He was great.

If I go to England, they know I'm not an Englishman, but most Americans think I'm English.

The Jews are an artistic people. It's clear from the music, the actors, the writers. They are just artists. In the early part of the 20th century, when they first came over, they had no money, but they still went to theater. The theater and education were the two biggest things in their lives.

Some of the movies I did - well, you have to feed your family.

People get ideas of how to live or not to live from what you do on television.

If you're in the groove, you get something back from the audience that is so exciting and rewarding that no film or television work can possibly compete.

Connie Bennett, the guys used to stake her, she was so good.

Everyone's looking for who's hot. What about looking for who's good?

The Depression was remarkable because you had nothing, and the salaries, when you got a job, were very small. But you could do anything. You see, a donut was ten cents. A cup of coffee was a nickel. That was lunch, with an apple. And I would be playing a lead on a Broadway show on that kind of diet.

I knew a lot of people who were beaten by the Depression, but there was still a feeling of positiveness among people: everyone thought it's got to get better. We were all trying to get the country back on its feet. There was a feeling that you could do anything, and this was certainly very true in the theater.

When I think back on it, it's amazing what happens to us as we move out into the world.

Actors are, in a sense, like athletes. They've got to stretch once in a while.

Renoir had a strong feeling about his fellow soldiers. He'd never disrespect them by putting the war down.

With Hitchcock, you work with a script, and you stick to it.

I was clearly brought into the whole thing about acting by my mother. She loved the theater. She had a very pleasant singing voice, which she used to sing for her ladies' club.

We in New York were very poor in the depths of the Depression - but I must say, that was the best time of my life.

I loved 'Modern Family!' It was sort of the precursor to 'Trainwreck,' to that character. But I loved it. I had a great time doing it.

Peter Weir is remarkable. He can do anything.

The writing was vastly superior to almost anything that was on the air. It's one of the great shows. It was an important show... 'St. Elsewhere' was one of the great shows in the history of television.

My family were Conservative Jews. My parents were both born in this country, but my father grew up on the Lower East Side, and my mother was born and raised in Harlem when there was a large Jewish 'colony' there. Eventually, they moved to Jersey City to get away from New York.

There were little Charlie Chaplins that you would wind up, and they would walk. I remember vividly. I was sitting in the high chair with the little tray in front of me. My parents would wind it up, and it would walk to me.

You must be active; you must be positive, even if things don't go the way you want them to.

You know I've never worked without a script before, but with Apatow, it's all improvisation. He calls out a premise, and you have to adapt.