- They say children in [the Hollywood acting] industry are protected. Bullshit. Hollywood would save Bosnia before the life of a single child actor.
- [on being fired from The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) for punching a casting director] I was rambunctious and confrontational and undisciplined. Heck, my third-grade teacher said that "while Paul was one of the smartest boys in his class, his behavior is abominable". And that pretty much explains why I was fired. I didn't know that kid actors aren't supposed to be children.
- I became a child actor because my mom was bigger than I was.
- [on his work with A Minor Consideration] People on the "outside", people who have not lived the life . . . "civilians", as we call them . . . are not equipped to deal with the masterful deceptions of former kid stars. For God's sake, when you don't know what to do with a former child star, call on the only group of people who DO know. We never say, "I told you so". We never seek retribution. We do not judge lest we be judged. We simply help.
- [on losing wife Brenda Benet to Bill Bixby] I was so angry I couldn't see straight, and what doubled this pain was that Bill was really visible. You know, he was going great guns and I was going in the toilet.
- [on the 1982 suicide of ex-wife Brenda Benet] In Hollywood, people make a great pretense at understanding the human condition. Particularly people on the soap operas. And they themselves are so poisoned by false values that they cannot, even with a co-worker, see the pain and [loneliness] and suffering.
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