Ernest Borgnine, Mr. Experience
At 91, he's robust as ever. American Cinematheque is paying tribute to him. But first, he has a few words.
Ernest Borgnine isn't happy that the young whippersnappers running Hollywood these days have turned their backs on veteran actors and filmmakers.
"They forgot them," he says. "It's a shame, isn't it? They just sit in a chair and just melt away. I would love to see these people [in films]. I don't know how Karl Malden is right now, but I bet you money he could put out a heck of a good picture. He's 95 or something like that. Everything is youth oriented and shoot'em-up and more sex. This is what sells today. I say: These older people know what it's all about. They know things. It's all ingested within them."
At 91, Borgnine certainly isn't wasting away in a chair -- or dwelling on the past. He's in great shape, robust, hearty -- still beefy. In fact, he probably could still play Fatso Judson, the brutal sergeant who kills Angelo (Frank Sinatra) in the 1953 Oscar-winning best film "From Here to Eternity."
And, yes, he's keeping busy. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for the 2007 telemovie "A Grandpa for Christmas," making him the oldest performer to receive such a nomination. He recently finished an indie film, "Another Harvest Moon," and his autobiography, simply called "Ernie," was just published. On Friday, he'll appear at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre to kick off a tribute to him. Among the films being screened are "Marty," for which he won the Oscar for best lead actor; "A Catered Affair"; "The Vikings"; "The Dirty Dozen"; and "Emperor of the North Pole" (also known as "Emperor of the North").
How does he keep so young?
"See the books around," says Borgnine, pointing to various stacks in the comfortable den of the Beverly Hills house he's owned for 43 years. The past 35 he's shared it with his fifth wife, Tova, who has a successful cosmetics line on the shopping channel QVC.
"I do an awful lot of reading," he continues. "It keeps me busy. I try to keep my mind going always. That is the thing that counts. You can have your body not feeling so good, but if your mind is working you got it made. That is the way I figured it out."
Borgnine keeps working, he says, because he left big agencies for a smaller one. "I have a little gal . . . she goes out there and hunts for me. We don't take everything. But she comes up with some pretty good little stuff. Of course I'm still working. That's what keeps me young."
