William Petersen Quotes

Well people often ask me how I felt growing up with a father who was a politician and who was often away. But when I'm asked that question I often reflect on my inability really to be able to answer it in any relative sense because I never grew up with a father doing anything else. So I just have no idea what it would be like otherwise.

Oscar Hammerstein was a surrogate father during all those many days, and weeks and months when I didn't see my own father.

My parents divorced when I was 3 years old. They had a lounge act in Las Vegas, where I was born. The band broke up and the marriage dissolved, and my mother, my sister and I moved to Southern California. And I didn't see my dad a lot growing up; he was on the road a lot. I'd see him every couple years.

If one area I felt it was a tough election was I couldn't see my young son and I couldn't see my wife a lot, but apart from that for her also it was an experience.

I have no ties to my dad. I had no communications with him; it didn't shape who I am or anything like that. I'm actually a product of my mom.

My mom's been married three times; my dad has been married a lot. I didn't really see my dad that much.

My father wasn't the best role model to me.

I suppose that when I'm building a character, it's usually related to what their family is like and who their parents are, as well as how I grew up - that nurture side.

The whole time I was on 'Grey's,' I'm still reconciling myself to my 11-year-old son, because he never saw me during that time. By the time he got up, he'd see a dent in his pillow, but by the time I got home, he was already asleep. So for three years, he had a daddy that he never saw because I had to work.

People say I'm not good at writing about men. My dad left when I was 16. Give me a break. I'm doing the best I can.

I grew up mainly with my mother, and I would see my father from time to time. But I didn't have a constant male figure.

My father - he was an orthodontist - was supposed to sell his practice and move down to Florida, but that never happened... I would sometimes spend the summer with him and visit him, but he never lived with us.

I didn't meet my father until I was in the fourth grade.

I was 2 when my parents - actress Connie Stevens and singer Eddie Fisher - divorced. I was too young to experience the pain of their split, but it was rough growing up with a father who wasn't there.

Because my dad was often gone, I never wanted to do anything that would make him stay away even longer. I became extra careful about what I said and how I said it, afraid he'd think I was angry or didn't love him. And the truth is, I was angry. I missed him and wanted him there.

When I had kids, I became a better actor. I just stole from them.

My father was not really a presence for me. He was away; he was in the German army.

Most kids would be like, 'My dad's never around.' But I saw it as a positive. He was out there working to provide for me.

The interesting thing about an absent father is, for a child, you don't know he's absent. You just think he's... tardy.

Mad World' was easy for me to sing because I could relate to Roland's lyrics. We were both the middle of three sons and had been brought up by single mothers with absent fathers.

When I was growing up, my father was naturally a very busy man and was not around for long periods of time. Despite that he was always emotionally with me.

My dad left home when I was super young, so it was my mum bringing me and my brother up.

My father walked out on us when I was three months old, and my mum, well, she wasn't the driven sort.

My brother and sister and I were latchkey kids, with a singer mother and no relationship with our father, and being in a firm is often about filling a void at home. For me, it was like having 50 big brothers.

My father was in and out of jail throughout my childhood. He really wasn't in my life at all. Thankfully, I had two strong role models who guided me through those years.