I call myself a character actor all my life. I've done a certain amount as a leading man, but character actors in my estimation - it's a lost art these days. Ernest Borgnine More Quotes by Ernest Borgnine More Quotes From Ernest Borgnine We've all got a lot of catching up to do. I'm still learning how to act, for god's sake. When I see these old-timers on the Turner Classic Movies, I still get ideas, you know. That's where you really learn acting. If you really see some of these old boys working it and you say to yourself, "My God, if I could really do that that would be wonderful." Ernest Borgnine classic acting boys I think you have to keep going. Otherwise, you know these fellas that say, "Boy I can't wait to retire. Boy, I'm going to be 65 years old, and I'm retiring and I'm quitting and that's it." Well, two weeks later they're saying to themselves, "What the hell am I gonna do?" And first thing you know they find themselves in a wheelchair or in a rocking chair going back and forth, back and forth, and that's the end of it. And suddenly you're dead. Ernest Borgnine waiting boys thinking You got to keep your hand in your craft, otherwise you can rot at the roots and first thing you know, you got nothing. Ernest Borgnine I like to keep at my craft. I like to keep reading scripts, whether I'm in it or not because of the fact that what would I do in a certain case? How would this happen or how would that go? I like to keep working with my mind, so when I do perform I have something to perform with, and it's not just like trying on new clothes. You're trying on a suit, but you know where the heck the pants go. Ernest Borgnine reading mind trying I've been to a number of places and seen for myself the caliber of people who are in the Navy today - in all the services for that matter. This is an altogether different bunch. These people of today are really bright, young, good people. Ernest Borgnine navy numbers people Every time you play one old-time picture along with today's kind of work, and they throw in the computers and the guns and the this and the that and the God-almighty, it gets to be a hassle and you wonder who the hell's doing what! Ernest Borgnine computer gun kind We got together, and Bruce Willis was just a sweet animal, a sweetheart. I tell you, right down to the core he's just a real professional, a real gentleman, and I must say I'm so very happy for him that he's got a heck of a good film. Ernest Borgnine real animal sweet I am very proud of having won Oscar because I know what I put into it. I know that the people who voted for me voted because they thought I was the best at that time. It's a wonderful thing to look up there and see that you achieved something that your peers gave to you and appreciation for your work. That's most of all what I think about when I see the Oscar. Ernest Borgnine appreciation people thinking Three quarters of producers don't even know who I am. The other quarter think I am dead. Ernest Borgnine producers thinking The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful. But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life. Ernest Borgnine oscars grateful stars I got a job immediately after leaving high school; I was lucky - three dollars a week and all I could eat, working on a vegetable truck. Ernest Borgnine vegetables jobs school The trick is not to become somebody else. You become somebody else when you're in front of a camera or when you're on stage. There are some people who carry it all the time. That, to me, is not acting. Ernest Borgnine cameras acting people I think we all have the urge to be a clown, whether we know it or not. Ernest Borgnine clown knows thinking To this day I clean better than most maids. Ernest Borgnine than better day clean My mother made me do all the housework as a boy. I still do it, even in hotels. Ernest Borgnine boy me mother made I just want to do more work. Every time I step in front of a camera I feel young again. I really do. It keeps your mind active and it keeps you going. Ernest Borgnine you mind work time
