Anthony Quinn

I got my first break in 1936 when I did The Plainsman, which was directed by Cecil B. De Mille. I won the part by speaking the wildest Cheyenne gibberish. It was very difficult for Latinos in those days. The roughest times came in the early '40s when Van Johnson was the leading man from MGM and every studio was looking for blue-eyed actors with light brown hair to play the American leads. All the dark people like myself were relegated to play the villains. Over the years I became friends with a lot of the Guild's officers, like Jimmy Cagney, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan, and Ricardo Montalban. I know what it's like to work without a union. My first job in pictures was as an extra for $8 a day. They took advantage of you, so I'm a strong supporter of SAG.