"I decided to act when I was in the Air Force. I was going with a stripper in San Antonio, hanging out with some bizarre fringe people--who considered themselves "show people"--including this 250-pound transvestite who designed costumes for strip joints, and a few gangsters. I was a young kid in the middle of this stuff, and it led to my decision. They weren't role models in a strict sense; more like the old freaks in the freak show. When I was younger I always felt like an outsider, and they said it was all right to be "the other." They had a nice little society, a little culture, and they dealt with life. So, as soon as I got out of the Air Force, I went right to New York. I figured that I could do anything I wanted. I had no one to answer to, nothing holding me back."

(Fred Ward, nome completo Frederick Joseph Ward, attore; San Diego, 30 dicembre 1942 – Los Angeles, 8 maggio 2022)