Top 35 Eli Wallach Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?”

— Eli Wallach

2. “When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”

— Eli Wallach

3. “The richest man is the one with the most powerful friends.”

— Eli Wallach

4. “I don’t act to live. I live to act.”

— Eli Wallach

5. “I’ve learned that life is very tricky business: Each person needs to find what they want to do in life and not be dissuaded when people question them.”

— Eli Wallach

6. “In the book, I tell the story of seeing old movies when I was young and acting out scenes at home. Now I get scripts, and I act them out.”

— Eli Wallach

7. “I’ve worked with wonderful actors like Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda.”

— Eli Wallach

8. “Even if I don’t want to slow down, I’m slowing down.”

— Eli Wallach

9. “My first Western was called The Magnificent Seven.”

— Eli Wallach

10. “Everyone thinks acting is easy. It’s far from easy, but it’s the most gratifying thing I do.”

— Eli Wallach

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

— Eli Wallach

12. “I met my wife and, for the next ten years, we did no films at all. She did the first movie and then I did several after. My first movie was written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Kazan and was called Baby Doll.”

— Eli Wallach

13. “The big secret in acting is listening to people.”

— Eli Wallach

14. “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.”

— Eli Wallach

15. “Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck.”

— Eli Wallach

16. “But Clint I love, because Clint was my mentor. I knew nothing about making an Italian movie.”

— Eli Wallach

17. “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.”

— Eli Wallach

18. “But I went to the University of Texas in the 30s, and while there I learned to ride. Mostly polo ponies.”

— Eli Wallach

19. “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.”

— Eli Wallach

20. “From the age of four or five. I went to see a lot of Westerns then. But it was silent movies and I loved everything that happened then.”

— Eli Wallach

21. “All of these stories bounced around in my mind for a long time.”

— Eli Wallach

22. “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.”

— Eli Wallach

23. “I never dreamed I would do Westerns.”

— Eli Wallach

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

— Eli Wallach

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

— Eli Wallach

26. “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.”

— Eli Wallach

27. “Fifty million dollars is not to be sneezed at. Of course, I never catch cold.”

— Eli Wallach

28. “So I wanted to show what I did with the money. So I got red silk shirts, beautiful hats, wonderful saddles, a great horse, and two gold teeth. So that was the way I did it.”

— Eli Wallach

29. “Well, I go to the theater today, and its curtain – there is no curtain in this play; the lights go down and go up – and we start. And I live this character for two hours. There are only two of us in the play. And It’s a complete experience.”

— Eli Wallach

30. “Well, I’ve maybe gotten 200 requests for interviews about Marilyn, and I just decided I’m gonna do my own.”

— Eli Wallach

31. “And that movie was underrated – Nuts – because it deals with a terrible subject, but It’s very well done.”

— Eli Wallach

32. “I’ve never lost my appetite for acting; it’s innovative and challenging.”

— Eli Wallach

33. “I love to tell stories and this is my way of getting them down on paper.”

— Eli Wallach

34. “I always wanted to tell stories and act.”

— Eli Wallach

35. “What is it in my makeup that makes me grab any offer and fly around the world? Will I ever be satisfied? Can’t I ever just rest?”

— Eli Wallach