Gregory Peck says he learned early in life that he was the key to his own success. "I was reticent and I had no self-confidence," said Peck, 72. "Little by little, though, I was learning to be on my own. I realized that if I didn't make things happen myself, no one else was going to." In the Dec. 4 issue of Parade magazine, Peck recalls how he became a truck driver at age 18, then quit to attend San Diego State College, where he earned grades good enough to get into the University of California-Berkeley. "From time to time I used to stop in at the Little Theatre. One day, out of the blue, a fellow came over and said he needed a tall actor and did I want to give it a try? I was terrible at first - awkward and stiff and self-conscious. "In one way, I hated it, and it was agonizing. But in another and more important way, I loved it."
