Top 22 Ron Moody Quotes

I think I’m a straight actor who occasionally does musicals; most people think I’m an eccentric comedian. It’s amazing how many years you can spend in this business just sorting out something as simple and basic as that.

I went to the London School of Economics to study sociology and psychology on a serviceman’s grant.

My training was that you fill in the canvas where it needs colour and polishing. You start with the words on the first night and keep adding bits of business.

I love getting up in the morning with nothing else to do except write.

I watch people constantly.

My portrayal of Fagin was all to do with my experience in comedy and revue.

Now I can see I was at fault for not being more considerate, but when we were doing the show I didn’t think it was my job to be considerate to other people.

I was offered Fagin-type roles, but I wanted to do new things. I could have worked in America, but there was a recession in the British film industry, and I wanted to work in England. I’ve no regrets.

I grew up with music hall and revue and was used to filling in the little gaps here and there to get bigger audience reaction.

I would have liked to have been a professor of sociology.

The world is always reinventing itself, and so should you. I used to say, ‘I haven’t started yet.’ Sadly, most people don’t develop their potential.

Summer of 1967 was one of the happiest times of my life.

I don’t think a professional agent or theatre manager would say my career had gone as well as perhaps it should have after that first ‘Oliver!’ success, but then again I was never really intending to have a career in the professional theatre in the first place.

I’ve no regrets. You take responsibility for your actions.

I was a stage-struck child from about 5 years onward.

Pressure makes people react in different ways. Some people plunge in, and others take the way out.

I always write ‘Fight’ on the mirrors – that goes way back to the times when you had to fight apathy.

Fate destined me to play ‘Fagin.’ It was the part of a lifetime.

I felt very insecure about whether I was up to recreating my stage ‘Fagin’ in front of a camera.

I’d wanted to be an actor from the age of five.

The day after the Oscars, I flew back to London to film a television play for Anglia. It was a big mistake because you never really get acknowledged for wanting to work in England, as I did.

For me, making the show work was getting belly laughs – like most variety artists. But the straight actor believes you fix your performance in rehearsal and that’s it.