- I grew up as an Air Force brat. My family moved around a lot. I entered the U.S. Air Force Academy after high school, but left after a year. I couldn't afford to stay at Sterling College in Kansas, where I played wide receiver for the football team, so I went to work and eventually moved back to California.
- Why I got to do 13 straight years of network television and somebody else didn't, who knows?
- It took me 10 years, but I eventually graduated from college, too.
- [on his character in "Left Behind"]: I am blessed to be a part of the production and get to play this character. I'm not the best actor in the world, but even better, I get to help this character evolve. I think God wants me to be playing Bruce Barnes.
- [Of his journeyman career]: I had been trying to make it in show business without any real vision. I was getting some success because I was a type - I had a quality that producers were looking for. But I wasn't controlling my destiny.
- [on how he sees himself as a character outside of his faith]: As a Catholic Christian, people don't necessarily want to see you in that way, as a person, as a father, as someone called to marriage or as an artist.
- [on why he would frequently grow his beard, outside of work]: If people look at you in an elevator long enough, they'll recognize you.
- [on turning 50]: I really have to work hard to keep up with them.
- [on being born Christmas Eve]: We did the best we could to make it a festive occasion, but I was always awed by what the kids in school said they got from Santa Claus. I couldn't quite bring myself to tell them about the boring underwear and socks I got year after year.
- I knew that nobody in this business would ever ask to see my diploma - I did it for myself. I believe that the only way you can really change your life is to get new information. I also wanted to learn the classic, not fake them.
- [when he wanted to be an actor] I knew it was the right choice from day one, then, through actor friends working at a restaurant where I was waiting tables at night.
- I was a prodigal, and not learning a lot of healthy habits. I was doing a little drugs, drinking a lot, chasing women until my parents said, 'You've got to move out.'
- [on Chuck Norris's, Cordell Walker]: There was really no one else in town who could play that character.
- [on figuring out the many Catholics that get on their knees each day]: I don't know how many Catholics are aware of why we are on our knees in the presence of Jesus. That's where I needed to be. Mother Church allows that and informs us that way. It is one of the great gifts.
- [In the wake of his misbehavior of his marriage]: My wife left me because I started to have an affair.
- [When his role on Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) came to an end, after 8 1/2 seasons]: I wanted to start over. Also, I was going to work on my new marriage. After 15 straight years of network TV I knew that I couldn't put a young marriage through that.
- [Of his spiritual talents]: To see those men do that was providential. It made me realize that artistically I have a lot of voices -- but how do I articulate all those voices unless I put my trust in some type of technique?
- I was part of a lot of great television projects. I started out on 'CHiPs' with Erik (Estrada). It was really consuming with Andy and Chuck. I do intend to go back, but not to the demise of the quality of life that I have now with my wife and five kids. And I always wanted that collegiate component in my life. It was one of those ("Godfather" author) Mario Puzo things. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse at a good university that's becoming a fine university. It's a great fit.
- [When he replaced Kene Holiday on Matlock (1986), in the role of Conrad] I was doing a lot of stress management that day. I decided to forget about the audition script and focus on how I felt about Andy the man. Having grown up with The Andy Griffith Show (1960), adoring the father-son relationship, I just figured to be Opie for a day. Well, I blew it. I was disappointed with myself, thinking I would never work again. But I turned on the TV in the limousine taking me back to the airport that night, and my second episode on Diff'rent Strokes (1978) happened to be on. I felt it was a good omen.
- [on his charity he spent time for] I always wanted to be a cowboy and work with my horse every weekend. My specialty is team roping. I had the pleasure of working with Charlie Sampson in Mesa, Arizonza, the last time out. He's the 1982 World Champion Rider. I love it out there, up to my butt in horses, calves, dirt and dung.
- [Of Andy Griffith]: I remember 1 time we were shooting a sort of send up on the Norman Bates Story. We've been doing a stand-up of Psycho for a Halloween Episode and I remember there was a funny bit that had to do with being stranded out in the middle of the street with him and he was trying to teach me about coming timing and he used to talk about doing a Jack Benny take and things like that, but I remember and we were coming up to, I mean, he might have been that sort of re-wrote the gang, but I'll always remember he was talking to me about being a straight man and how you either have to have a point of view or not have a point of view and it depended upon the subject matter that the comedy team was working and so I remember him saying!
- [About his on- and off-screen chemistry with Andy Griffith, who played Ben Matlock]: Andy could have chosen any one of a thousand guys to be his partner for four seasons and he chose me. Andy was funny and a raconteur and a craftsman. I don't think I was funny before him. He would teach me comic timing. He would come into my trailer and say, 'Let's take a look at the arc of this joke.' He would say things like, 'You know you don't have a point of view in this joke.' And I love directing comedy because I hear him all the time. I try to steer my actors toward that classic style. He would say, 'We're going to do the George Burns thing here' or do the Jack Benny look.
- [As to why he loved working with his childhood hero/acting mentor [Andy Griffith], who have changed the young man's life, after years of struggling as an actor]: Before 'Matlock,' I really struggled with the comedy aspect of acting. I stuck to Andy like glue during the 4 years we worked together and he taught me so much. Anything I do comedic I owe to working with him.
- [Who talked about his mentor's Andy Griffith first movie, before starring in his mentor's popular sitcom]: There's a great story he told me. You know, Elia Kazan didn't want him for that role, so Andy actually - and I can share this with you - he actually went out and drank a lot. He might have been doing 'No Time For Sergeants.' So he met Elia in a bar. In New York. He was so very much disheveled from the 'No Time For Sergeants' character that he had to convince Elia that he could play the character in 'Face In The Crowd.'
- [As to how Andy Griffith became his surrogate father on Matlock (1986)]: You know, he was a surrogate father on television. So he had to calm me down. But he hired me, you know? I had the screen test in New York, and he hired me, so he believed in me.
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