Michael said ……..

“I have been incredibly lucky. I must say that I've worked hard, but you have to be lucky at the same time. But when you are lucky like that, there is a certain amount of jealousy. And I think anytime they can, they say, ‘The only reason he got a chance to direct was because he would throw a tantrum or give them a hard time or come to work late.’ But whatever people's reasons are, those things never really bothered me. I am never really concerned about what people write about me.” Talking about his career. Panorama. March, 1981.  

“I wanted to do a show without anyone telling me what to do and I can do that with NBC. They trust me. I keep the show on budget. I run a good ship and deliver on time.” Talking about Little House on the Prairie. Australian TV Week. March, 1977.

 
"Yes, I have to be in control and I don't apologize for that. I don't work by committee. The only problems I've had in my career came when someone else was in control. It's my name up there. I'm responsible. I work very hard on any project. But it has to be done my way. (Being creative) can be a very lonely existence, but I believe there can only be one boss on a project. When I'm involved, that boss is me. If people don't like it, they can walk." The Newfoundland Herald. January, 1985.  

“He always seemed so indestructible! You never thought anything could happen to him. Aside from being a big guy like that, and strong, there’s also the thing of playing a hero for 13 years with a guy. We go through all these make believe bullet wounds and tragedies – yet there’s no way to kill us. There’s no way we can die. Then all of a sudden a guy dies. You can’t believe that he can die. A young guy, and strong as a bull.” Talking about his shock at Dan Blocker’s death. 1972.

 
"I like acting, and I really, of all things, prefer to see something I've written all the way through to a finished product. But, if I could do only one, it would be directing. You see, a director is always in the midst of action. Something is always happening in his work; he's constantly busy. No sitting around and waiting, as actors so often have happen. Nope, the director is the man in charge. There's never a dull moment. It's a great feeling." Photoplay. July, 1978.  

 

 
“Lots of people who are doing a television series complain after the series is on that it’s beneath them, that they want to get out and do real theatre and all that junk. I think most of the time they all say that so if in fact the show is dropped, they can say they wanted it dropped. I don’t think very many people in this business or any other business had the kind of experience I had, working with a great bunch of guys for 14 years. There was a lot of crying on the set during the party when we broke up. There was an awful lot of love on that set, not only among cast, but among crew. You don’t want to break up a family like that.” Talking about the cancellation of Bonanza. Snow Goer. November, 1973.

 
“We were two different people, but it took us six years to realise it. It was just a case of oil not being able to mix with water. I figured it was better to call off our marriage sooner than later. If two people no longer feel they’re hitting it off – then that’s a situation neither one of you can live with. It can drive you both crazy.” Talking about his separation from Dodie. Australian TV Week. December, 1962.

 
"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows…. I’m going to survive if I can. If I can’t, I’ll know I fought the good fight. Look, there’s only two things that can happen. I can win or I can lose. And I can handle both. Is there some sort of life to come? I don’t know. I do know that the people I love on this earth, I will be with them always. I’ve tried to be a good, strong figure for my kids, as fathers should be, and I will always give them strength. And if my wife remarries – and I certainly hope she does – I know there will always be, maybe somewhere in the left ventricle, a place for me in her heart.” Life magazine. June, 1991.  

 
“You know, acting is a funny profession. It makes you laugh one minute and cry the next. You’re never satisfied. Even when everybody says, ‘Great job,’ you think to yourself, what do they know? It’s all because of this drive to be better and better. When you’re in a profession like this, having someone’s love is so important. It has to be a special kind of love, an unselfish love. That’s the kind Dodie has for me. I guess I could keep going on about how wonderful Dodie is. And you want to know something? She really is!” Movieland and TV Time. April, 1959.

 
"I have a strong feeling for the little guy. If I hear anyone yelling at someone working for him, that person doesn't come back the next day. The worst thing you can ever do is to make a man feel like a coward. If you're the boss and you scream at someone working for you, he can't scream back because he doesn't want to lose his job. So by putting him in that position, you're making him feel like a coward for not having the guts to risk his job. That's a low thing to do to anyone." The National Tattler. November, 1975.  

“Last night ‘The Wonder Years’ showed an excerpt from ‘I Was a Teenage Werewolf.’ If things ever get really bad, I can always go back to that – 30 years from now I could do the sequel - but I’d have no teeth. It’s hard to get traction on the neck that way.” TV Guide. January, 1990.

 
“I grew up on that show (Bonanza). I could have sat in the corner between scenes, but I wanted to learn this business, and I did. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to do it. I like to do it all. Maybe I like directing just a little bit better. But I like to bring in a show at price - to meet the budget. Last year we finished the season under budget." Nation's Business. August, 1978.  

“He was Ben Cartwright to the end. He was ready to die with no complaints. The last time I saw him, he couldn’t speak. I took his hand in mine and held it. He looked at me and then, slowly, he began to arm–wrestle with me like we used to do. He broke into a smile, then nodded. I think that he wanted me to know that everything was OK.” Talking about the last time he saw Lorne Greene before Lorne died. Star. September, 1987.

 
(Talking about why up until this point he had refused to have a chauffer-driven car pick him up each morning and return him home each night). "I mainly didn't want to have a driver, to be honest with you, because I felt it was kind of phoney. You know! I didn't feel comfortable arriving in a limo while everybody else had to climb into vans, busses, or car pools. However, I eventually realized that I was wasting two hours a day by driving myself. There was an hour out and an hour back when I could be working, rewriting a script or outlining a new script. So I finally decided to accept the offer." (Part of the article: Such a convenience is commonplace for most TV stars of shows that rely on location work. It's frequently a luxury that is accepted readily. But Mike agreed only as long as his "family" understood the genuine reason for his decision. He laughed to tears the first day he arrived and found everyone standing in mocked attention.) Movie Stars. October, 1978.

 
"Be strong. Be solid. Live life, love it, and be happy." Michael wrote these words in a book for Cindy a few weeks before he died. 1991.

 
"When I look back on my relationship with my own father and then compare it with my friendship with Mark, I can see that my father was sort of a stranger to me. He was always so wound up in business, thinking up new ideas and worrying about how the old ones were turning out, that I never felt I really knew him. When he died - almost three years ago - I was shocked at the depth of the grief I experienced; I knew then how much he had meant to me. I'm sure he loved me very much too, but I never felt it when I was a boy. The difference with Mark is that I love him very much - and he knows it." Modern Screen. April, 1962.   

(Talking about how he thought of the idea for Highway To Heaven, while he was driving home one day.) "Everyone driving home dislikes everyone else so much. You can't make one mistake without everyone hating you and giving you the finger. I just started thinking 'Why do we all hate each other so much?' I wanted to do a show where we could show there were some good people in this world. It's amazing how you can change people by being nice to them." Standard Speaker. November, 1984.  

“I think the thing that Bonanza probably taught me was the fact - right from the very first show that I did - that things were always done in a certain way. Especially on our show. It was still in the fairly early times of color television and the filming of color shows, and NBC was very concerned about the color because that sold RCA television sets. There were certain things, a look, that I wanted to have…. It had a great deal to do with some types of lighting that had not been done before. And a lot of people said don't do it. But it was my one shot, as far as I was concerned. I wanted them to either like it or not like it the way that I wanted it to be. It really turned out quite well, so I was able to continue on. But I realized that you really can't listen to a whole bunch of people - because a whole bunch of people are no more right than one person who knows what he wants.” Talking about when he started writing and directing “Bonanza” and having creative control of his shows. Panorama. March, 1981. 

 
“I don’t write every day, but I do keep it current. It’s always about an experience, a perception, an encounter, a feeling about someone or some situation. It gives me a chance to look back without being phony about it. That’s important, because without a written record, the memory plays tricks. We all deceive ourselves. If I gaze back on something that happened five or ten years ago, I’ll remember myself as perfect and the rest of the world as imperfect. If anyone made mistakes, it was the other guy. My ego doesn’t allow me to remember the truth – that I was a terrible pain in the neck to a lot of people….The point is not to punish myself, but to keep my perspective. The journal keeps me honest. It’s better than going to a psychiatrist, because I know that I’m going to be more honest when I’m dealing with myself. Nobody sees what I’ve written so I don’t bother with disguises or masks. I tell myself the truth.” Talking about the journal he kept. Movie World. October, 1975.  

"My goals for my kids are to be healthy, happy, caring and kind. What else could you ask for? I never tell my children they should be so lucky living a good lifestyle. I think kids only tend to realize things like that later in life." Star. June, 1986.   

"Without the crew I'd never get home with my eyeglasses every night. Someone's always got them. At the end of a day when I look panicked, they've always got my script and eyeglasses carefully tucked away some place. They hand them to me, guide me to my car, and point me in the right direction. They're beautiful people.” (Talking about how he is always losing things). Movie Stars. October, 1978.

 
(Talking about his parents). “When I was a real little kid, their relationship didn’t affect me. I was really too young to understand their problems, although I did realize that something gloomy hung over our house. However, when I was 12 and 13, I became the mediator at home. I was link the only link in a long chain between reality and insanity. When I was at home, I was too busy taking care of them to wonder about myself. My sister, Victoria, who was several years older than me wasn’t much help either. She seemed to be the favored one. Everything Vicki did was always right. I can hardly ever remember her being slapped or yelled at. Months would go by for me, too, without ever being punished. But one day I’d spill a glass of water at the dinner table and I’d get beaten up for all the things I presumable did wrong for the past months. I could never quite understand my mother’s punishment methods. All I know is that when you do something wrong, you should be told that it’s wrong right then and there – not two months later. I could never figure out why I was getting slapped for just spilling a small glass of water. I think she took out all her hostilities on me then.” Movie Stars TV Close-Ups. July, 1960.

"Failing is really a matter of perspective. What is a failure to you might be a success to someone else. For instance, an actor who is in a TV series that lasts 13 weeks might look upon that as failure, but a show that remains on the air for 13 years is a success. Well in reality, the aftermath of both those can be very interesting. The actor whose show is only on the air for 13 weeks might find that the exposure has made him a very saleable commodity in this market of acting. The fact he had the opportunity to show his wares might very possibly lead him to feature films, another series or even a Broadway play. Conversely, an actor who is on one series for 13 years might have that come to an end and never work another day in his life because his believability in any other role is so weak that it'd be a risk to cast him in something. Now you tell me, which is failure and which is success? I knew what I was facing when Bonanza came to an end and I could have withdrawn and said, 'It's too big to fight,' and wrapped myself in residual checks for the rest of my life. But then, in my estimation, I would have really failed. I decided to try something else and then if I didn't succeed it would have been a different type of failure." Photoplay. October, 1979.

 
(Talking about script writing) “I don’t use an outline. I never have the slightest idea what’s going to happen. I know who the people are by the time I sit down, and I’ll just start with my people and they’ll start to talk to each other and they’ll get into some kind of situation. I never know whether it is going to be a happy or a sad ending, or whether this person is going to be a particularly good person or not. I don’t know until he starts talking. For me it’s a lot more fun that way. If it’s cooking, I can write straight through. I have written a lot of screenplays on a weekend. In two days. I’ll tell you, the time I usually rewrite is while I’m shooting. It’s only at that time that I realize that a scene that I thought looked fine when I wrote it is going to stick out like a sore thumb. It’s usually a scene that does not advance the story. And then I sit and think why the hell I ever wrote that. But that happens with everybody.” Writer’s Digest. April, 1977.
(Talking about when he broke up with Dodie). “At the time of our separation, there was absolutely no love. It had died sometime before. We only made each other unhappy. It was much better for both of us to split, particularly the kids. They were shook up at first but they came to accept the situation. As the months and then the years went by, they realized it was all for the best. Dodie and I hold no hate for one another. It was just one of those unfortunate mistakes one doesn’t like to make in life but which happens occasionally. We couldn’t change the way everything had become, and we knew all we could do was accept.” Screen Stars. February, 1972.
(Talking to Laura about death) "That's the way you live this life, each day, one at a time. Now if you spend your whole life worrying about somethin' that's gonna happen, before you know it, your life's over and you've spent an awful lot of it just worryin'. Hey, you hear that (the sound of laugher) now that's what life's all about, laughin' and loving each other and knowing that people aren't really gone when they die. We have all the good memories to sustain us until we see them again." Charles Ingalls (LHOTP) "Remember Me" written by Michael, aired Nov 1975. 
 
 ....... more to come
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