Charles Durning

Dancing came easy for me. Acting came hard.

— Charles Durning

I'd like to have a decade of my life back. I dropped into a void for almost a decade.

— Charles Durning

You're out there on a high wire without a net, and that's the way actors operate. They have to be fearless about…

— Charles Durning

I was born looking older - and I've been aging since I was a teenager.

— Charles Durning

I was doing judo before anybody knew it existed in this country.

— Charles Durning

Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't.

— Charles Durning

Acting is ephemeral. You can't hang it on a wall. You can't throw it off. And you can't bring it out of…

— Charles Durning

Of course, I'm not often the top dog, but sometimes it's better not to be top dog, because you last longer. If…

— Charles Durning

There's no nobility with war. It's tear-'em-up destruction that leaves you frustrated, bitter and angry... If you really knew what it was…

— Charles Durning

You make the money in movies and TV so you can do theater. I do a play a year... somewhere.

— Charles Durning

I would rather do a play because it's instantaneous. You go on the stage, and you know whether it's happening or not.…

— Charles Durning

I can't count how many of my friends are in the cemetery at Normandy, the heroes are still there, the real heroes.

— Charles Durning

I lack confidence as an actor.

— Charles Durning

I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director.

— Charles Durning

I think I've done 200 plays and 125 movies, so I've been very lucky to have made a living at acting.

— Charles Durning

That place that no one knows about - horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting.

— Charles Durning

There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about.

— Charles Durning

In order for your dreams to come true, you've got to stay awake.

— Charles Durning

If I had my druthers, I would do only stage work.

— Charles Durning

I was born a character actor.

— Charles Durning