As a young, struggling actor in Sydney, Rod Taylor cleaned hospitals and suffered through other odd jobs to make ends meet.
There were days when he pondered giving up his love of acting and becoming an engineer.
Then, one night, his life transformed.
Sir Laurence Olivier's Old Vic production of Richard III stopped in Sydney, and after watching the great one on stage, Taylor decided acting would be his life.
He died on Wednesday aged 84 at his home in Beverly Hills surrounded by family, including his wife of 35 years, Carol Kikumura, and daughter Felicia.
He would have turned 85 on January 11.
Taylor almost reached his goal of acting until he was 90, with his last significant role as Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 war drama Inglourious Basterds.
"My dad loved his work," Felicia said.
"Being an actor was his passion - calling it an honourable art and something he couldn't live without.
"He once said, 'I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist ... so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them'."
Taylor worked with giants during his 50-plus film career. The list included Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Bette Davis and Jane Fonda.
After starring in Australian films King of the Coral Sea and Long John Silver in 1954, Taylor, on his way to London, stopped by Hollywood and never left.
In 1956, the boy from Lidcombe found himself on the set of Giant, directed by George Stevens and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.
It was his performance in the 1960 sci-fi classic based on HG Wells' novel The Time Machine that gave Taylor his first major role.
Three years later, Hitchcock cast him alongside Tippi Hedren in another classic, The Birds.
Taylor would tell stories of how Hitchcock fed the many seagulls in the film whisky and wheat.
The only reason they were staying still was because they were half-drunk, Taylor said in an interview with Turner Classic Movies.
Hedren, now 84, remained friends.
"He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy," the actress said on Wednesday.
While often playing the tough guy, Taylor admitted to not being comfortable with the image.
He also didn't consider himself good-looking enough for other roles.
"That's why it is wonderful for me now to play ugly, old dinosaurs," Taylor said of his latter roles, including a return to Australia for the 1997 comedy Welcome to Woop Woop.
Taylor's representative said he died from natural causes.
