All an Actor Owes the Public

This is rather a strange question, if I may say so. Why not just ask which actor is supposed to have said, "All an actor owes the public ... (etc.)"?

For one thing, I can find no evidence that Lauren Bacall said anything like what the question suggests she said. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has two entries for Lauren Bacall, but not this one. I've tried googling various word combinations, but without success.

Hardly a famous quotation then – even if she did say it.

Because the question's been asked, you would probably go for someone you associate with Humphrey Bogart; and Lauren Bacall is at least as likely as anyone else. But doesn't that make the question a bit pointless?

It does however appear to be true that Humphrey Bogart did say something along these lines. The Quote Investigator cites "a California newspaper", which "presented remarks made by Bogart" in 1949 when referring to "the antics of Errol Flynn". Bogart was pleading the actor's right to be himself in public, and do a bit of "good ole hell–raising" if he wants to. He protests that he's forever being reminded of his responsibilities to his public, and is quoted as saying: "I don't owe my public anything except a good performance. That's what they pay for. And if they get it, we're even–stephen."

The Quote Investigator gives several related citations, including this one that appeared in 1984, in an edited reprint of the interview: "People are forever reminding me of my responsibilities to my public. Well, I don't owe my public anything except a good performance. That's what they paid for and, if they get it, we're even–steven."