Gray Matter Talking with Ernest Borgnine, Naperville's honorary senior

He could be a senior citizen living in Naperville.

He's friendly, down to earth and the type of person you might find in a downtown coffee shop sipping his favorite hot brew.

However, he is not included in our census list, but has been made an honorary Naperville senior citizen thanks to our mayor. After receiving the citation, 92-year-old Ernest Borgnine proclaimed, "I'll have to put it next to my Oscar."

I had a chance to chat with Borgnine recently when he appeared at Naperville's newest movie theater, Hollywood Palms.

"Ernie," as he prefers to be called, is a 10-year veteran of the United States Navy who served before and after World War II. His acting career started shortly thereafter and has flourished for five decades. In that time, he has appeared and starred on the Broadway stage, movies and television.

In addition to winning an Oscar for "Marty," which was shown at Hollywood Palms, he has been nominated or won 10 different awards, from Golden Globes to Emmys.

He feels that his success as an actor is based on this simple philosophy: "What you gotta do is find out what the writer wrote about and put it in your mind. That is acting. Not going out and researching what the writer has already written. That is crazy!

"Clark Gable's parting comments in 'Gone With The Wind' got everyone's attention. Movie patrons couldn't believe what they heard," he continued. "Now it seems that you can't say three words without cursing. Writers can't seem to draw pictures anymore. I don't think that's right!"

Legends Borgnine has appeared with include Frank Sinatra, William Holden, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster and his favorite, Spencer Tracy.

"He was the first actor I've seen who could look down into the dirt and command a scene," he said of Tracy. "He did that in 'Bad Day At Black Rock' with veteran actor Robert Ryan. Rob could have given birth to a baby in the film and the scene could have still been Mr. Tracy's."

Our honorary senior citizen's first break in films came in 1953 playing "Fatso" Judson in "From Here to Eternity." He recalls that Sinatra was having huge career problems and could not obtain any work. He accepted the role as Angelo Maggio for $150 a week. Borgnine was paid $700.

The rest as they say is "history." However, at the age of 92, Borgnine is continuing to make "history." Personal appearances, movies and awards are still on his agenda. This year, he earned an Emmy nomination for his performances in the TV series "ER."

With a twinkle in his eye, he asked, "Have you ever seen SpongeBob SquarePants? I'm the voice of Mermaid Man."

A true role model for seniors, Borgnine's philosophy for life is the same as he uses for acting: "What you gotta do is find out what the writer wrote and put it into your mind."