Interview: Hollywood legend Ernest Borgnine

At 92 he is still working and was in London recently to promote his autobiography. He spoke to The Wharf about his life, career and living next door to Marlon Brando.

One of his latest parts was in the last-ever episode of ER, playing an elderly man whose wife is dying. It's tipped to win him an Emmy.

He said: "They had a big to-do in the States and now they are thinking of putting me up for an Emmy.

"But you can't go wrong with the kind of lines they gave me, where this man is watching his wife die. Suddenly they put out that little machine and there's nothing left. I looked at the machine and I looked at the doctor and said 'that's it' and start to cry. But that's life too."

British TV viewers can see the final series on More 4, which includes the much-heralded return of George Clooney as Dr Doug Ross.

But for Borgnine the likes of Brando, Tracy (pictured above with Borgnine in Bad Day At Black Rock) and Gary Cooper are the true legends, with modern actors a pale imitation.

He said: "Today there's no comparison at all. They call them stars but where do you find the new Gary Coopers, the Spencer Tracys, people like that? You don't find them anymore, they've just gone.

"They were beautiful people. Wonderful guys. You'd never notice them if you didn't know them, they were just regular people. But I thought they were gods and then here I am working with Spencer Tracy and Gary Cooper, and saying to myself 'wow'.

"It's a shame it's changed because I always thought acting was a wonderful profession but the damn thing has gone downhill instead of uphill."

But Borgnine reserves special scorn for the crudeness of many films made now.

He said: "Although they've made wonderful progress in cameras, lenses, everything you can possibly imagine to make the actor look good, here they are swearing up a whole storm and they call it entertainment. That's not entertainment to me.

"I'm no prude. Believe me, I can use them like the best of them but I don't like to use bad words in a movie. Why leave a legacy of bad words? It's not my cup of tea."

Borgnine has waited until his 90s to record his life story. Born into an impoverished Italian-American family in 1917 he spent 10 years in the US Navy before turning to the stage at the relatively late age of 28.

Initially playing heavies, including a memorable turn being beaten up by a one-armed Spencer Tracy in Bad Day At Black Rock, he struck gold playing against type as a lovelorn butcher in 1955's Marty.

The role won him an Oscar and Borgnine admitted picking up the Academy Award came as a big shock.

He said: "I had some pretty good people against me. I was sure James Dean would win it, because he was a big favourite and he had just been killed in an automobile accident. Even I hoped he would get it.

"But I was sure Spencer Tracy would get it, little realising that there was also Jimmy Cagney for Love Me or Leave Me and Frank Sinatra for The Man With The Golden Arm - he did a hell of a job, beautiful job.

"I was out there checking the house when they called my name and my wife was hitting me saying 'they called your name'.

"I didn't have a thing to say, not a thing. So I kissed her and went up to the stage and thanked Grace Kelly and thanked the Academy, then my mother and father and that was it.

"I called my father up later and asked if he'd seen it. He said 'yeah, and guess what? The first guys in the house were the fellas who said tell Ernie to get a job. They came in and said we knew he could do it.'

"It was wonderful the way the world, the public, seemed to accept it. You have to try very hard to get a piece of work out like that."

The role also landed Borgnine a Golden Globe and a Bafta and opened the door to a long career in film and television.

He went on to star in films like The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch (pictured above), The Poseidon Adventure and Escape from New York as well as tv shows like McHale's Navy and Airwolf.

As well as working with acting icons he found himself living among them in Hollywood.

One of Borgnine's neighbours was Marlon Brando, although he rarely saw the reclusive star.

He said: "No, very seldom. He lived in a weird kind of place that had all kinds of bamboo all over it, so you never saw him.

"I'd see him occasionally when I'd go down at two or three o'clock in the morning to the store and he'd be down there buying ice cream. He was a nice fella but he was huge at the end.

"But that was the method acting. I never saw method acting at all. I just don't like it. You only act with two things - the heart and the head. What method is that? You're just being honest. The method is false in my estimation."

Method acting aside, what tips does he have for aspiring actors?

He said: "Like old Spencer Tracy said 'don't forget your words and don't bump against the furniture'. It's the best advice you can have."

Borgnine has no plans to retire, as long as the parts keep coming.

He said: "I intend to go until I'm 113 and then I'm gonna tell them all to go to hell."

Ernest Borgnine: My Autobiography, published by JR Books, is on sale now.