James MacArthur

Beating the drums for Hawaii is not hard to do… the place just grows on you.

I got into the acting business very young.

Frankly – and believe me, I say this without any pretense – when I see the road I’ve taken, I have to say that thanks to good luck, because without good luck one can do nothing, I’ve come out pretty well.

Once you’re a winner, you can give all sorts of reasons why you’re a winner. Of course, you could all those same reasons to explain why a show fails.

The first year we actually did a lot of night shooting and the writers weren’t even allowed on location.

I had accumulated some capital and was at an age at which I was interested in generating income. But even though I was risk averse, I was interested in growth stocks.

I am happy to have now as Danny finally a more difficult role, in which I can shoot and fight.

A woman doesn’t just love a man. She loves who he is. And, who he is is dependent on what he needs.

But I found out that bones with flesh are more interesting than bones without.

I thought even if the show only lasted a year, it would be fun.

You should hear the guy who dubs me in Japan. I like him the most. He has a high squeaky voice.

And I had an old-fashioned idea that dividends were a good thing.

I don’t think anyone connected with Five-O believed the show would last as long as it did.

Six years ago, I completed the premier episode of Hawaii Five-O, and Jack Lord and I immediately realized that we had a good series, that this was a success such as we’d never hoped for!

Nobody really knows what makes a hit TV show.

I just sold a farm in Missouri, and I own a ski lodge in Colorado with some Honolulu partners.

Walt Disney was not a merchant of sadness.

They all went down in droves because just scenes of palm trees and beaches can get pretty boring.

Some people say Hawaii is spoiled, but I don’t think so. It’s modern. It’s a part of today’s world.

For years I have played the twenty-something lover.

It’s sometimes unnerving to think of that, and I wish it were possible for all children in the world to have the good fortune I’ve had in having a giving and loving family.

My mother insisted that I have a normal upbringing.

But it’s hard to sustain a successful acting career today.

If the woman in my life, the one that I felt I loved enough to want to marry, loved my children, I’d know then that her love for me was deeper than I could hope for.

And after four years, I thoroughly enjoy Hawaii and the success of the show.

When the major studios flourished many years ago, an actor was groomed, developed, and worked frequently at his craft. The studios really took care of their actors.

Actually, if I could find a woman who was that wonderful; that understanding, well, I’d give her everything in the world that was in my power to give. And, I’d love her more than I ever thought it possible to love any woman.

It was an hour of sanity with the good guys winning, a situation where the world was right side up.

Who knows what kind of life I might have had had I not been fortunate enough to have the parents I’ve had.

You know, as I do, actors who, having become worldwide celebrities thanks to a TV series, complain of their lot and declare themselves ready to drop it all.

We were living in a tumultuous time, when the world was upside down. Freeman produced a show that was black and white, the good guys versus the bad guys.

My idea of going to hell is going somewhere where there are no books.

In the case of Five-O, I believe it was a combination of many ingredients – timing, chemistry, Hawaii.

I give a percentage of the earnings to the Motion Picture Home.

Fortunately, I’ve also been an electrician, and that’s a happy memory for me.