I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.
These days, right now, these are the good old days. I've always approached it that way. That's why I'm still working. I'm not the guy who is ready to sit by the pool.
I know what actors fear, what they like; I know how to get things out of them and I listen to them better, since I've been there.
You know when you play Pictionary and someone draws a state? My biggest fear is that I'm not gonna know what state it is. I'm so bad at geography.
I don't seek discomfort. But, very often, you realise that what you fear is actually quite ephemeral; something's different, something's unfamiliar; therefore, it must be worse.
Fear may very well be a caveman fear of the predator, of the giant lizard chasing them - maybe that's what Steven Spielberg connects with so well in Lost World.
They did interviews with my wife and daughter-they were genuinely in fear of me having a heart attack, working 20 hours a day, eating fast food.
I think anybody who's famous has to deal with their fame in their own way, and I dealt with it by making a film about a kid who's looking out into the world of celebrity obsession.
The first syndicating I tried was when two partners and I created a production company in 1952. We wanted to syndicate famous Bible stories and sell them for $25 a show.
I think there are a lot more writers who are actors than you know; they just don't have roles on famous TV shows that you recognize.
I certainly don't want a child of mine to be famous, or anyone I was very close to who isn't yet... It's the worst thing to be trapped in your house not be able to leave.
Many people don't know our famous 'soup kitchen' episode on Seinfeld was inspired by an actual soup restaurant off 8th Avenue in New York.
Hitler was so modern, in that he was obsessed with being famous. He was caught up with this rush to be have achieved greatness before turning 30.
The first pork-barrel bill that crosses my desk, I'm going to veto it and make the authors of those pork-barrel items famous all over America.
Some very famous directors have started in the mail room, which is just getting inside the studio, getting to know people, getting to know the routine.
Save your rejections so that later when you are famous you can show them to people and laugh.
In Los Angeles, as I gained and lost celebrity, then gained it again, I often found myself wondering why I, out of thousands like me, had become famous.
I became famous, I think, really because of the interpretation of other people's songs, way back when, and that's what I enjoy the most. And I'm a lazy bugger.
I have no use for people who throw their weight around as celebrities, or for those who fawn over you just because you are famous.
When famous people come up to you it's a bit weird, but it's an honour, really, when they recognise you and want to chat to you for a bit.
I actually think Johannesburg represents the future. My version of what I think the world is going to become looks like Johannesburg.
