Character and McCrea

Joel McCrea, extraordinary actor and person. This is from his New York Times obituary:

Mr. McCrea was a dependable, even-tempered leading man who casually acknowledged that some important western roles he was offered had been rejected by Gary Cooper and that some major light comedy parts had been turned down by Cary Grant. Characteristically, he regarded the two actors not as opponents but as friends, modestly remarking, ''I turned down as many roles that I thought were beyond my abilities as I did ones I thought weren't good enough.''