Alan Ladd Quotes

"Once Ladd had acquired an unsmiling hardness, he was transformed from an extra to a phenomenon. Ladd`s calm slender ferocity make it clear that he was the first American actor to show the killer as a cold angel." - David Thomson ("A Biographical Dictionary of Film, " 1975)

"That the old fashioned motion picture gangster with his ugly face, gaudy cars, and flashy clothes was replaced by a smoother, better looking, and better dressed bad man was largely the work of Mr. Ladd." - "New York Times" obituary (January 30, 1964)

"Alan is a big star to everyone in the world except Alan. He thinks he`s in the business on a raincheck." -- Sue Carol, his wife/manager

"I have the face of an ageing choirboy and the build of an undernourished featherweight. If you can figure out my success on the screen you`re a better man than I."

Our children were trained to look after each other.

I`m working myself to death.

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.

It seems only reasonable that the people have a right to know virtually everything about the personality they are buying each time they put their money through the box office.

I`d rather be David Ladd`s father than Alan Ladd any day.

If I had my way, I`d do all my entertaining on the front steps.

I know what`s good for me. I can`t play black or gray. I can`t be a villain or anything close to one. I have to play white.

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.

I learned more about acting from George Stevens in a few months than I had in my entire life up until then.

I was a dummy in school.

A producer has to know all about everything from set-building to costumes to acting.

Strangers still leave me self-conscious.

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

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

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.

I`ve always had a great respect for the picture business. It`s been good to me.

It`s natural to want your kids to have all the things you didn`t have.

I`m going to make it. Nothing is going to stop me. Nothing. I want it too much.

If you can figure out my success on the screen, you`re a better man than I.

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

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

I was never trained for anything.

Nobody`s strong enough to stand up under a flood of weak material.

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.

What good will a tax break do me if I`m crippled for life?

I don`t care how small the parts are, as long as they`re good.

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

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

Maybe I can`t act, but I know the gimmicks. I studied acting all my life and know what`s good for me.

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.

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.

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

I had only that one picture, Hitler, the Beast of Berlin, in which I had a part big enough to impress anyone. I tried for better roles over and over again.

I`m no good with words but I`ll find ways from time to time to show you how grateful I am.

Time scoots along pretty fast when you grow up.

It`s a funny thing about me. I don`t have any interest in food most of the time now, although when I was a kid I was always hungry.