78 Quotes by Eli Wallach

John Huston was a superb master. He knew how to make good films. I did three things with him. One is called Independence. It plays in Philadelphia, for free. It’s been playing there for 25 years.

Well, I was getting a lot of money then, and I wasn’t getting any Hollywood films, so I just did those. I’d always do a play in between. Whenever I ran low on funds, I’d always rush off to do a movie somewhere.

I’d come out of the army after five years as a medic. I was a medical administrator and we ran hospitals, and I was a Captain in the army at the end, in 1945.

One thing changes every evening: It’s the audience, and I’m working my magic. I’m always learning from it.

My wife says that stage acting is like being on a tightrope with no net, and being in the movies, there is a net – because you stop and go over it again. It’s very technical and mechanical. On stage you’re on your own.

I never dreamed I would do Westerns.

And I did Batman, too. I did Mr. Freeze. I get more mail for him than anything I’ve ever done.

I always end up being the evil one, and I wouldn’t hurt a fly.

What do I need a movie for? The stage is on a higher level in every way, and a more satisfying medium. Movies, by comparison, are like calendar art next to great paintings. You can’t really do very much in movies or in television, but the stage is such an anarchistic medium.