Dad

My dad was very successful running midgets in Texas. Then, his two drivers ran into some bad luck. People started saying that Daddy had lost his touch. That it was the cars and not the drivers. I wanted to race just to prove all those people wrong.

At my house, it's an, 'If dad says it, you can say it' kind of deal, so a lot of my slang words come off very childish at this point in my career.

I get on fine with my mum and dad, but if they want to see the grandchildren, they come to me.

I'm a dad, and I can tell you it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

My dad's paternal grandparents were musically inclined. And I remember as a little kid going to visit them in their senior building, and they were, like, the stars of the building, especially hosting and performing in their senior talent show.

My dad and my mom were big Nat King Cole fans, so they had everything he did.

My dad didn't want me to listen to Zeppelin, I think because it reminded him of his wilder days, and now he's a retired Southern Baptist minister.

My introduction to the Madonna Inn came as a young boy when we would take summer vacations to a nearby town. My dad would take us into their gift shop bathroom, which was a huge waterfall that functioned as the men's urinal. So as a kid, this was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

I was around computers from birth, we had one of the first Macs, which came out shortly before I was born, and my dad ran a company that wrote computer operating systems. I don't think I have any particular technical skills, I just got a really large head start.

I'm one of five kids and we lived on a massive farm in New South Wales with my mum and dad.

My dad was so much fun growing up.

I asked my daughter when she was 16, What's the buzz on the street with the kids? She's going, to be honest, Dad, most of my friends aren't into Kiss. But they've all been told that it's the greatest show on Earth.

When I was a teenager, I was an umpire for a competitive league for 8- to 9-year-olds. I was really bad at it because I didn't know all the rules, and all these kids were better athletes than me. I made a bad call, and this dad snapped on me. Then he dumped his trash from his cooler, and I had to kick him out of the stands.

My dad was a big car guy. If you wanted to spend time with my dad, he was working on the car.

I dug up my dad's old Fred Astaire tapes, and now I find him super-inspiring. He's, like, one of the best dancers.

I went to the Hall of Fame with my dad. I can't say I really remember too much about it.

Feels good to try, but playing a father, I'm getting a little older. I see now that I'm taking it more serious and I do want that lifestyle.

I mean, I look at my dad. He was twenty when he started having a family, and he was always the coolest dad. He did everything for his kids, and he never made us feel like he was pressured. I know that it must be a great feeling to be a guy like that.

I never had a speech from my father 'this is what you must do or shouldn't do' but I just learned to be led by example. My father wasn't perfect.

The problem with me, as far as getting married and having a family, is that my comedy is so important to me. So I don't know if I'll ever be as good a dad as my dad.

There is nothing that would upset me more than my dad being bribed by the press. It's like, 'Just let them run it, then. Don't you give them ammunition.'

My dad has given me the best gift anyone has ever given me. He gave me wings to fly.

Adrian Leon LeBlanc, my dad and my namesake, his keen joy in observing people and the world is the reason I became a journalist.

My dad taught me that language was a powerful tool.

I was always fast, I was always racing guys that were older than me and beating them, so I always had speed. I was able to make good cuts at a young age, on the side of the house with my dad, going through different plays, working on cuts and stuff like that.

My dad would always tell me, 'When you meet a man, look him in his eye and shake his hand,' and that's just something I've been doing for a long time.

My dad told me, 'It takes fifteen years to be an overnight success', and it took me seventeen and a half years.

I miss my Dad. My Dad loved cheesy monster movies, so we'd have Godzilla movie marathons. Those are some of my favorite memories, laughing at how the monster outfits were so bad, like black garbage bags for heads.

I wasn't even born when dad swam in the Olympics. I've seen videos of some of his swims, although I don't think I've ever seen him in the Olympics. He's been a massive support right through my career, and it's good to have someone so close to talk to who knows all about what it's like to compete in an Olympic Games.

I just always really wanted to swim. It was always a family thing: dad obviously swam, and my sister did, too. And mum used to come along to meets. They had to drag me out of the pool - so there was never any pressure on me to swim. It was just something I loved doing.

I grew up on the back of a motorcycle - my dad didn't have a car until I was a teenager.

I was raised by a single dad. Dad's idea of hanging out with your kid or day care was give her $20 in quarters, drop her at the arcade, and tell her not to talk to strangers.

I was raised by a single dad, and I've always kind of liked things that are typically more guy-oriented.

My dad, he was a construction worker. He was a butcher. He was a deep sea fisherman.

One of the first movies my dad took me to see was the original 'Road Warrior.' And I was kind of raised on the action movies of that era: 'The Terminator' and 'Die Hard' and, of course, all of the 'Star Wars' movies.

Early in my career, I got roles that demanded that I be fit to carry off the angry young man look. Of course, I'm a fitness freak, and that's something I picked up from my dad.

For me, it's about moderation and discipline, and that's something I picked up from my dad. I don't believe in rigorous workouts but believe in eating right, going to bed early, and getting a proper workout.

I'm a polygamist. I can afford to have as many wives as I can afford to have. All Africans believe in it. My dad has four wives.

My dad always told me to stand up to bullies, and Bill O'Reilly is kind of a bully, and he's the kind of kid who hits other kids on the playground. And when you hit him, he runs to the teacher and says, 'Teacher, sue him.'

My dad didn't graduate from high school, ended up being a printing salesman, probably never made more than $8,000 a year. My mom sold real estate and did it part time.

My dad never graduated high school. He was a printing salesman. We lived in a two-bedroom, one-bath house in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. We weren't rich - but we felt secure.

My dad loved comedians, especially George Jessel, and he loved Henny Youngman and Buddy Hackett.

My parents didn't make a lot of money. My dad was not a high school graduate - he didn't have a career as such, he was a printing salesman essentially for most of his working life.

My dad was a terrible businessman.

Music is more of a hobby to me than my hobbies, if that makes sense. I love music, my dad and brother were very musical, and music just happens to be one of my hobbies that became my vocation.

I've seen 48 Stanley Cups in my life. I was about six or seven when I started going to games with my dad.

Dad taught me everything I know. Unfortunately, he didn't teach me everything he knows.

My mum always told me I was precious, while my dad always told me I was worthless. I think that's a good grounding for a balanced life.

The way I was parented did affect my parenting - probably in the reverse. My dad was pretty strict, and the next generation probably wants to be less strict.

There is not a racist bone in my dad's body. He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes.

My dad, Donald, was a vet and had a practice in Yorkshire. Cats and dogs were his bread and butter, but his greatest love was large animals.

My dad played a character on the radio called 'Parkyakarkus.' A Greek-dialect comedian. He did Friars' roasts and wrote material and made people laugh that way. But he wrote his own shows with other writers.

My dad died right after performing at the Friars' roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. I have that tape somewhere. There's still a lot of good jokes in there. I mean, that was 1958.

My dad was great. He was very droll, very dry.

My dad always supported me. Sometimes we didn't have anything to eat for breakfast, but if we could eat lunch and dinner, we weren't poor.

At the end of the day, you realize that this is important stuff, but it isn't as important as how my kids feel about me. That's how I'm going to measure my success - not how I did as counsel to the president or as attorney general. How did I do as a dad?

Sons have always a rebellious wish to be disillusioned by that which charmed their fathers.

My dad's a biophysicist. My brother is a computer guy. His wife works at Microsoft.

My dad could be beyond brilliant but totally introverted. If we're talking about computers, he's on. Otherwise, he's a total recluse - he stays in the house and won't leave, and I'm like that. If I'm not working, I'm locked up in my room.

I took a lot of long summer road trips with my dad, and the mix of music we listened to on the road skipped around from classical to Western to new age to hyper-cinematic.

My dad cut my hair once - I wanted a bob and he gave me a bowl cut. That was a tough few years.

What people don't understand is that my dad isn't up on the contemporary music scene. He's been a legend for decades and he doesn't know what's going on right now, and he doesn't need to.

I guess if you are making more money than your mom and dad, you can set your own boundaries.

My dad sacrificed many things in life for me. He abandoned a very promising and lucrative career of an army officer just so that he could continue helping me with my chess and accompanying me to tournaments.

Acting has never been a thing that me and my dad have talked about. It's like footballers: when they get together, I bet the last thing they talk about is football.

For years, my dad's friend Joe was just my dad's friend. And it was only when I was 12 or 13 I learned that he was the lead singer of a band called The Clash.

I just loved going fast. I still enjoy go-karting. I was also good at rugby, and my dad wanted me to be a sportsman, but I never thought I could do sports professionally.

I wasn't expelled for anything vicious, just being cheeky, not doing what I was told, answering back, and always rising to the bait if someone said something annoying about my dad.

I've always known my dad is a one-off and his own person. But I feel that underneath he has always loved me.

By the time I was seven, I did a sonnet at Shakespeare's Globe theatre for Shakespeare's birthday because my dad had been at the first season of the Globe and was friends with the artistic director. Somehow, that lead to me doing a sonnet!

I get a lot of advice from my dad about how I should be as a human being, but as an actor, I think he'll give me advice once I'm doing a film for him.

My dad is too cute. Every morning, he sends me one motivational quote. I have a folder full of all his quotes.

I definitely had a weird thing of being attracted to older men. Never my family friends, never my dad's friends.

My brother and my dad always used to shave their hair, and I remember thinking, 'Why can't I do the same?'

My dad, in particular, was adamant that I should finish my education. He encouraged me to go to Oxford, for instance, and I rather doubt I'd have gone if he hadn't. I would have gone straight back to L.A. and tried to start my career.

My dad's always been a famous actor, so I've grown up with that, and with the lifestyle. In a way, I think I thrive on the insecurity that comes with it. Not in my private life - I like to believe that my friendships and my relationships are strong.

My parents weren't married. It wasn't like my dad up and left. I maintained a steady relationship with my grandparents. My dad's mother is my nana, and I'm closer to her than almost anybody in this world.

Both my mom and my dad have always included me in intelligent conversations about people, about characters, about how people work. My dad and my mom still read all scripts that I find interesting. I send them an e-mail, and I'm like, 'Okay, I have my eye on this,' or whatever.

My dad read 'The Danish Girl' and fell in love with it. He told me, 'You need to do this film.'

My dad used to ignore me when I was a kid. He couldn't stand my voice, so he just used to ignore me, and then he'd impersonate me.

My dad's an architect and my mom owned a French bakery for twelve years.

I did a term at Cambridge University studying medicine, so I could potentially have followed in Mum and Dad's footsteps and become a doctor.

I knew I wanted to be a professional triathlete, but I didn't know it was possible until I won the junior champs. My dad said I should give Cambridge a go to see if I could do both, but it was only ever a trial.

Because Dad was famous, I was so used to being identified as 'John Huston's daughter' that I couldn't think of myself as anyone else.

I loved Dad more for treating the biological reality as trivial, irrelevant. He loved me no less than his other three children.

I wasn't a fan of the Sixers. My dad was a big Mo Cheeks fan, and he wanted me to be drafted by the Sixers. My thing was, if that could make my dad happy, then that would make me happy, you know what I mean?

I'm just a regular 24/7 dad now.

I remember running up to my dad and saying, 'I want to be an actor when I grow up!' And him saying, 'Yeah, well we'll talk about it.'

I told my parents I wanted to be an actress years before I wrapped my head around what my dad did for a living. It's not easy to explain the job of the television journalist, especially when a lot of my friends' dads had jobs that were a lot easier to explain, like a lawyer, a banker or a doctor.

My dad keeps joking about sneaking into my grandparents' house and switching out their HBO for PBS so they think I'm on 'Downton Abbey.'

I started off playing the clarinet, after I was inspired by listening to my dad's Benny Goodman records.

From the moment my dad died, from the moment I found out there was the possibility of his dying, there were many surprises - years after, minutes after. The moments I was okay were as surprising as the ones that I wasn't. Making it through the eulogy without losing it. And then the guilt I felt about it. Surprise!

I enjoy going to the Y. I take all the fitness classes that my dad takes, that's sort of our bonding - anything athletic, anything sports related.

My dad came over from Ireland when he was 13 and lived on the streets, working on building sites, and has just retired from his job delivering furniture for John Lewis. My mum has had the same job for 30 years as a sales assistant at Marks and Spencer. They've always been really great, they just want me to be happy.

The first time my mum and dad went to the theatre was at my drama school in third year.

My dad, he is such a soft man. Even if he has these opinions about my boyfriends, he will be the sweetest guy. He will make you feel like you're fascinating and awesome, even if he doesn't like you that much.

I come from a very musical family. My dad taught me to play guitar. I play violin and drums as well. Violin, I started in elementary school. Drums actually came when I was in a program called 'Rock Star,' which was really awesome. We were doing a song by the Ramones, so I thought, 'Why not play the drums?'

I saw my parents come over. They were immigrants, they had no money. My dad wore the same pair of shoes, I had some ugly clothes growing up, and I never had any privileges. In some ways, I think the person that I am now, I think it's good that I had that kind of tough upbringing.

I was raised by extremely strict - but also extremely loving - Chinese immigrant parents, and I had the most wonderful childhood! I remember laughing constantly with my parents - my dad is a real character and very funny. I certainly did wish they allowed to me do more things!

Come Christmas Eve, we usually go to my mom and dad's. Everybody brings one gift and then we play that game when we all steal it from each other. Some are really cool, others are useful and some are a bit out there.

Babies don't need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of.

When my career first began, I didn't have children - so there's a whole lot of difference in the way I choose roles now. Not just films for my children, but how long I'm going to be away, and is Dad going to be home while I'm gone. That sort-of factor plays a part.

My dad did a radio show. I was on it when I was seven. So now you know that the showbiz bug bit me really early.

Thanks to having my dad travel with me, I don't feel quite cut off from my family.

My mum is really fair and has blonde hair, and my dad is not dark, either.

My dad was a sports writer when I was younger and then he became just a general columnist. But I grew up with him literally getting into brawls with football coaches.

The first real concert, other than going with my dad to see Three Dog Night, was Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage. I was fourteen or fifteen. I liked Shirley Manson because she reminded me of Annie Lennox. They both have these deep, sexy, powerful alto voices.

My dad likes to take the mickey out of me for saying everything is 'amazing.'

David and Dad didn't get along too well growing up. I mean we all got along, but it was harder on David, because David wasn't going to be the son that Dad wanted. But now they're like best friends.

I'm concerned about heart disease. I've raised money to fight heart disease, my dad died of it.

My dad grew up really poor in Mississippi. I paid attention to that because I thought that's a healthier thing to pay attention to than, like, some statue of a great-great-great grandfather who has no connection to my life.

I remember tap-dancing and singing in front of the TV when I was a kid, telling my dad to stop watching Ed Sullivan or Milton Berle and watch me.

I was always inundated with music, whether it be my mother's favorites like Fleetwood Mac and Carole King and the Carpenters, or my dad's jazz music.

You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.

My dad and mom divorced when I was around ten, and I didn't live with him after that, though he was close by and we saw each other weekly. I wasn't really aware that he was a writer, I didn't start reading his writing until I was about fifteen. It occurred to me then that my dad was kind of special, he's still one of my favorite writers.

Dad couldn't train me. He was too high-strung, like, 'Throw your jab!' and I'd start crying.

I spent loads of time in Scotland as a kid. My dad would take us back up to Aberdeen loads, and I have very fond memories of getting chips from his favourite chippy and heading down to the beach to eat Baskin Robbins ice cream.

My dad bought a Beatles tape when I was in fifth grade, and that was the first time I ever really - I mean I was into music, but that was the first time it really blew my mind. When I heard the 'Red Compilation,' which wasn't like a proper album, I thought, 'music was more than I had ever thought it was before.'

I always appreciated my dad coming outside and playing with us - or my mom - and being a part of the game we were playing or refereeing it or just being outside. That was fun for us, and it was very encouraging.

When I was 19 years old, both of my parents died in the same year, my mom of cancer and my dad in a car accident. Through the next two or three years and a series of bad decisions - all my own, I might add - I ended up literally homeless, before that was even a word. I even slept occasionally under a pier on the Gulf Coast.

I stayed in Baghdad every summer until I was 14. My dad's sister is still there, but many of my relatives have managed to get out. People forget that there are still people there who are not radicalized in any particular direction, trying to live normal lives in a very difficult situation.

My dad was working abroad, in Iraq, and he was a doctor. We used to go and visit him, in Baghdad, off and on. For the first ten years of my life, we used to go backwards and forwards to Baghdad, so that was quite amazing. I spent a lot of time traveling around the Middle East.

I was born too late to experience Apollo 11, though I do trek to Dad's house every time there's some space event. There's something awesome about crossing your fingers and watching a tense Mission Control room do their thing.

If I played Bond, my dad probably wouldn't know what to do with himself. He'd probably put his shoes on the wrong way for the rest of his life!

I'm just a pretty regular dad.

I like people who are devoted to me: men who know I'm the most fabulous thing in the world, and they just look at me with adoration. That's how my dad looked at my mom, and that's how I expected to be looked at.

I've always been a Marvel fan. As a kid, I would pick up a two-foot stack of comics and read them in the back of my dad's car on long journeys across the States. That's how I used to make friends - I'd meet up with other kids, and we'd swap comics.

I grew up in rural Arizona. My dad ran a general store.

I have always had the feeling I could do anything and my dad told me I could. I was in college before I found out he might be wrong.

My father was an Episcopalian minister, and I've always been comforted by the power of prayer.

I look for strong people. I don't like people who'll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue and disagree and have a point of view that's reflected in the magazine. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to 'The Standard.'

I don't want my dad to say, 'My daughter is an actress on a TV show.' I want him to say, 'My daughter cares about people.' I would love to know that I'm a role model in Hollywood.

My dad was an editor and a writer, and that's actually what I aspired to be.

My dad is from India, my mom is from Russia. Fortunately, we moved a lot. I went to a lot of different schools and completely different cultures, so that's my background.

My dad was in the life insurance business, so I learned about selling when I was about 14 because I started working as a secretary.

I have always thought of Walt Disney as my second father.

I grew up moving around because my dad was in the Air Force - I think this has carried over into my work in that I like to hop around from one medium to another.

My dad grew up in Washington Heights. I grew up in New York in Manhattan. So we're purebred New Yorkers.

My dad photographed a lot of beautiful dancers. My mom was a dancer.

My dad was always taking photos of us at home, and even on set - he'd bring us along and stick us in the photos in the background. It was almost the beginning of acting for me, like, 'Hey, you go over there and play basketball in the background, and don't even think about the camera.'

My dad said to always do what I loved and not worry about the money or anything, because if I do what I love, then the money will come.

My dad's a photographer. So I suppose he named me Ansel just in case I would take over the family business. I guess I failed him.

My mom is very romantic. As is my dad. They appreciate real romance.

M dad was a boxer, so he had this fierce, physical presence.

I always told my dad I'd play professional football.

My father was grounded, a very meat-and-potatoes man. He was a baker.

My father wasn't a cruel man. And I loved him. But he was a pretty tough character. His own father was even tougher - one of those Victorians, hard as iron - but my dad was tough enough.

My mum and dad aren't together, but she plays a massive part in my life. We have deep conversations: I tell her where I need support, where I feel she's lacking, and I support her with whatever she needs. I understand she won't be here forever, and I want no regrets.

As a father now, I wouldn't do what my dad did, because it left me feeling emotionally unstable as a kid. But he didn't do the things he did out of selfishness or malice.

I would have to say the person with whom I am most in love is definitely my son, Everly Bear. Although I'm his dad, I'm also his friend.

I remember my very first training session. It was raining hard. It was cold, and I went home. I couldn't train. I stayed for ten minutes then told my dad to take me home.

I didn't know what architecture was except that I lived in a house. I don't even think that I knew the word for a long time. My dad funneled me into engineering because it was his background.

Once, I was coming back from school, and there was this guy who was eve-teasing me and my friend. I had a Milton water bottle that I flung it at his face. My dad told me if you are in a crowded place and a guy eve-teases, you should make noise. I did exactly that and got people on the road to beat up the guy.

As I grow older, I have a growing curiosity about my other half. My dad did a wonderful job raising me, and I wouldn't change it for the world, but at the same time there is a growing curiosity about my other half.

I had a ton of energy, ran around like crazy - more than a handful for my dad. I was crazy. Dad barely handled it. I was never diagnosed ADHD or anything like that, but I'm pretty sure I had it when I was younger. It's the only thing that would explain me getting into trouble all the time.

I wanted to play football or be a boxer, but my dad didn't want that because of all the impact. But in 1992 I was watching short track, and it was obscure, but they looked like superheroes in their tight outfits, and I thought it was amazing. I wanted to do that. I made the national team at 14.

My dad's great. He's my biggest supporter. He's always told me that whatever I choose to do, I can do it. I just gotta put my mind to it.

My dad was a diplomat and after living in America, where I was born, he was posted to Cairo.

Indians mock their corrupt politicians relentlessly, but they regard their honest politicians with silent suspicion. The first thing they do when they hear of a supposedly 'clean' politician is to grin. It is a cliche that honest politicians in India tend to have dishonest sons, who collect money from people seeking an audience with Dad.

I loved going to church. I enjoyed being a part of the choir and just doing things in and around the church. But as a young girl, I certainly enjoyed watching and listening to my dad.

I was in my dad's church, his Baptist church, and I think the first song I ever performed was 'Jesus Be a Fence Around Me.'

My mum was a dancer when she was a kid. Then my parents met and eventually had an art gallery, my dad taught himself how to frame pictures, and then he was a curator at an art gallery in the city I'm from. I'm an only child.

My mother wanted to name me Jackie or Jacqueline but she got to name my sister and my brother, so my dad and my brother insisted on naming me. And they were big fans of 'The Little Mermaid.'

I assisted on a lot of films outside my dad's company. I only did two of his films.

My mother had introduced me to a lot of my father's friends because she believed that I would get to know the guy my dad was better through his friends than just in the hospital visits.

My dad's songs were really written to make certain people feel as though they had some kind of value. Because they were told from where they work and from the countries they had immigrated from that they did not.

It will be amazing to collaborate with my dad. It will be special.

There was nothing more important I could do than be supportive as a dad.

My dad bought me a guitar when I was very young, and I never looked back.

My dad was Superman to me, and in my mind he always will be.

My dad, he believed in me. My first year was hard for me. I came to the States with myself, and no one came with me.

They tried to make my dad play professional basketball. But he was married young, too, at 20 years old. He wanted to have a family and said that money was not enough.

I'm an artist, and I go in the studio and make my music. And then I'll give it to my dad and he does what he does. And he does, you know, the press, and figuring out shows and whatnot. When it comes to my artistic freedom, he doesn't, like, step on my toes or anything.

After school, my mom would pick me up and I would just go to visit my dad in the recording studio, and I would see him working with Mark Hamill or hear him doing the 'Transformers' or a 'G.I. Joe' or the 'Rugrats.'

My dad does tons of voiceovers, he was Duke in 'G.I. Joe' and 'Transformers' and Handy, Lazy, and Grouchy Smurf, so I grew up with the best bed time stories ever.

My dad had such a cool job. When you're a voiceover actor, it's a whole different skill - you're bringing these huge, larger-than-life monsters and characters to life. And, also, you have to learn accents.

My dad knows every single accent from being an old Yiddish grandpa to being Indian or Jamaican. It was very cool to grow up with that.

I'm lucky because my dad taught me to be frugal and save. And that's important because I want to know that I don't have to take an acting job for two or three years if I don't want to and that I'll still be able to make my house and car payments and buy food for my dogs.

When my dad passed, there's a lot of sadness right below the surface, and I think there will be until the day I die. So, writing sad songs helps it. And when I sing them, it's pure therapy for me.

We had our first earthquake over here recently. That was a bizarre feeling. I just became disoriented and I remember my dad freaking out. Nothing broke or anything.

My dad's a worker, an electrician, a bog standard job. Nothing glamorous like a footballer, but yet he still provided me with what I needed.

My family belongs to a tennis club in Valencia, California, so I always go there. I play a lot of tennis with my dad and swim. And I like to go to the gym there.

My sister is totally my dad's daughter because she loves sports.

When I was really little, I was on a Pop Warner squad. I did it for a year. My dad was a Pop Warner football coach. I did it because my best friend was also on this cheer squad, and of course I looked up to my sister who was a cheerleader, so I wanted to cheer.

When I was 13, I had my first job with my dad carrying shingles up to the roof. And then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant. And then I got a job in a grocery store deli. And then I got a job in a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground.

I have always been a bit of an introvert. In fact, my dad used to force me to meet people so that my interpersonal skills improve. As an individual, I was happiest when left alone.

My dad, when he was young, did Shakespeare in school, and my mom was a little bit of an artist, but everybody was pragmatic.

That is where the irony of the film comes off, in terms of the language it employs - where he tries desperately to be a 'TV Dad,' to give advice and it's so pat it becomes ridiculous.

When I wanted to audition for a dinner-theater junior troupe in my hometown, I needed to have a piece of musical theater music to sing. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use. My mom and dad suggested that I sing 'Edelweiss' because I knew it from the music box.

That is the thankless position of the father in the family - the provider for all, and the enemy of all.

I'd always loved movies. I watch them all the time, my dad is a huge movie buff.

My dad has always been a big Ray Charles fan, and I've grown up listening to all kinds of music.

My dad told me he wanted me to join in the business, but nothing was firm. He was quite young when he died, so we hadn't talked about it in depth.

My dad was in a Beatles cover band. My mom wore Candies and belly buttons. The people in our family were very glamorous. They wore pearls like Jackie O.

My dad died, I think, at 87. So I'll be lucky if I make 87. But in a lot of cases, the younger people live longer than their parents. And they know more. My dad used to tell me he ate the hog from his rooter to his tooter. So do I when I'm not trying to lose weight.

Have you read 'The Grapes of Wrath?' That was my family. My dad was a sharecropper in western Oklahoma. When the dust storms came and everything got wiped out, they came to California. The guys with the mattresses on the tops of their cars in the movie? That was the way it was.

I'm Bam Margera. And I feel like kicking my dad's butt all day today.

He described how, as a boy of 14, his dad had been down the mining pit, his uncle had been down the pit, his brother had been down the pit, and of course he would go down the pit.

When I was leaving Yemen to come to America, things were tough. My dad had just been laid off, and it was a challenge. When I lived in Yemen, I thought America was a perfect place. Everything was bigger and better. I dreamed big. The American dream, you know? You have to work hard for your dream to come true.

My dad read history, about a book a day, but only after he retired as a successful bank and insurance man.