Top 25 Christopher Timothy Quotes

I was very ambitious as a young actor, but I wasn’t good at being ambitious.

I was never much of a networker.

Alf Wight was first and foremost a great storyteller. From all the interesting people Alf had spoken to from all over the country, particularly vets, Alf wrote their stories down.

He was a patient man, a kind man, a man who cared about animals and human beings, all qualities not to be devalued, but James Herriot was not a saint. I tried so hard to play against some of the scripts that implied that he was a saint, but I don’t think I was always altogether successful.

One of the reasons I didn’t tell people I had cancer was I thought it might affect work.

You have to remember: I grew up in the 1950s, the era of cowboy movies and rock ‘n’ roll.

Oddly, I’m not a huge fan of Brisbane in Australia. I can’t quite put my finger on why – it just seemed to lack verve, and I don’t have any great desire to go back.

I had just finished playing a doctor in Doctors’ and I had had to tell somebody that they had cancer. In that moment I thought, He’s doing what I did!’ We sat down and he said, I’m sorry, Mr. Timothy, but I’ve got bad news.’ I thought, Oh!’ He told me that they had found cancerous cells, but not a lot.

I was born in Bala, North Wales, and was sent to a private tutor. I seem to remember walking to the tutor by myself at the age of four – and sometimes going into a church school on the way and being allowed to stay until someone noticed.

When I didn’t work on TV, that was OK because I was doing lots of theatre but I did begin to panic a bit.

My first role was on Broadway from 1963-64 in Chips With Everything.’ It was very well reviewed but not very well attended.

A lot of people went to posh universities, but I left at 17 to work for three years at Frank Newton’s Gentleman’s Outfitters in Shrewsbury, where I gained a professional qualification in how to measure a suit.

I’m delighted there’s a younger audience discovering James Herriot.

Pebble Mill was packed with a lot of talent and a lot of really, really good stuff came out of Birmingham. It was a tragedy that it closed. It was the most famous TV centre in the country.

At the time I discovered that I had prostate cancer, it was not long after my first wife had died, so my children had lost their mum. I felt that to tell them that I had prostate cancer, while I knew that I had it and there was a threat of some sort, I felt that it would be wise not to make things worse for them.

I get stopped in the street now and asked, What do I know you from?’ My first reaction is to say All Creatures’ and they say no. I say Doctors’ and they say That’s it’ because they are so young. I have no complaints.

I was fascinated by puppets as a kid and one I had when I was eight or nine, a skeleton, is now hanging in my office.

Alf Wight was remarkable, and I keep in touch regularly with his children Rosie and Jim, I love them dearly and I owe them.

I thought I might get a part as a farmer. I knew about the books but I hadn’t read them. A few weeks later, an actor whispered in my ear, ‘It sounds like you’re in line for James Herriot.’ I read every book in about 48 hours.

I spent three years at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, which I enjoyed very much.

My son Simon had one of Elvis’s favorite meals when we visited Graceland – a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Fried! Can you imagine the cholesterol?

I saw the police thriller The Blue Lamp’ and remember realizing the power that Dirk Bogarde as the gangster exerted over the audience simply by his expressions in the close-ups. I could see how the people around me reacted to him and realized that I wanted to have the same effect.

One time I had to file the teeth of a carthorse. They’re such gentle creatures.

I learned to have a respect for animals and for the people who deal with them – vets and farmers.

The minute I got the part of James Herriot, I asked to meet him.