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Monday December 3, 4:20 PM Ernest Borgnine revelling in spotlight at 90 Photo: AFP Click to enlarge LOS ANGELES (AFP) - At an age when most actors have long since retreated from the showbusiness spotlight, veteran actor Ernest Borgnine is showing no sign of slowing down. The 90-year-old, who won a best actor Academy Award for his performance in the classic 1955 film "Marty", has just seen his latest film screen on US television, and has multiple projects in the pipeline. In an interview with AFP, Borgnine said he was drawn to his latest film, "A Grandpa for Christmas" which aired on US television earlier this month, because the subject matter "was pretty close to home." The film sees Borgnine play an elderly man who takes in a nine-year-old grand-daughter he has never met at Christmas. The themes of family separation and healing during the festive season struck a chord, Borgnine said, evoking his unhappy estrangement from his children following separation from fourth wife Donna Rancourt in the early 1970s. "I remember going to pick up my kids, who were living with my fourth wife whom I had separated from, and my little young daughter said 'Daddy we don't ever want to see you anymore!'" Borgnine told AFP. "I just left the house and didn't see them for years. "Back in 1972 I was giving their mom 2,000 dollars a month for the support of my two kids and one day I got a call saying the kids were starving and despite a court order my ex-wife was taking them out of the county. "So I could relate to a man who was cut off from his family despite loving them and that loneliness was more pronounced during the holiday season. "The gamut of emotions one can experience are more visible on a worldwide basis during Christmas than at any other time during the year." More recently, Borgnine personally felt the loss of a loved one when his good friend Delbert Mann, who directed him to his Oscar in "Marty" died. "What made Delbert such a good director is he let you work alone. He regarded you as a professional and helped you shape your performance rather than dictating to you what your performance should be. "Plus he knew how to use his humor to ease conflict on the set. Actors truly enjoyed being in his presence." The same can be said as to why Borgnine, whose TV show "McHale's Navy" still plays worldwide, has over 100 TV and film roles to his credit. "I always try to bring as much as I can to a director even if its something crazy off the top of my head. Then it's up to the director to smooth out the ideas that I come up with. "But your ideas should come out of your character rather than your ego. When I hear an actor say he can direct himself, I say to myself 'Shouldn't you be a good actor first?' because only a good actor realizes how much he needs the help of everyone on the set to come up with a truly memorable performance. "When you're part of an ensemble like I was in 'From Here To Eternity' and 'The Poseidon Adventure' you realize you stick out badly if you try to steal a scene instead of being a part of a team. Acting to me is very simple. "You just need to use your heart and your head together. It's like rolling off a log but you better know how to roll off a log or you'll hurt yourself when you fall!" Borgnine, who's been married to his fifth wife Tova for 34 years, has held his own with many great actors like Lee Marvin, his co-star from the "The Dirty Dozen." He's also earned his acting spurs opposite legendary actors William Holden, Warren Oates, Robert Ryan and Ben Johnson in director Sam Peckinpah's classic western "The Wild Bunch," whose power and influence on three decades of filmmakers remains clearly evident today. So what words of wisdom would Borgnine pass on to aspiring actors? "Get a real job before you try to get an acting job," he says. "Learn about life and then learn your craft. And don't wear dark glasses on screen because you think you're cool. The eyes are an actors' best asset. "I'd give them the advice of the great college basketball coach John Wooden who said 'It's what you learn after you know it all that really counts!"