Ernie: The Autobiography
by Ernest Borgnine
List Price:
Our Price: $10.51
You Save: $14.44 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.08 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ernest BorgnineEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-01
ISBN: 0806529415
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Citadel
Book Reviews of Ernie: The Autobiography
Book Review: Emperor of Hollywood
Summary: 5 Stars
Character actor Enest Borgnine sums up his personal philosophy in the words of an old sign he saw dangling from a street vendor's hot chestnut cart in the teeming slum streets in New York, where he was born ninety-odd years ago. These words have stuck with him ever since: "I don't want to set the world on fire," the sign read. "I just want to keep my nuts warm." Now he is the oldest living person to have won an Oscar and he's still acting with his lovely makeup mogul wife, Tova, to give him support.
He was middle aged when he started to act, after a ten year stint in the Navy during WWII, and so he came to us fully grown. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY wasn't his first film role, but this A-list Fred Zinnemann production got him noticed by all the critics and put him in line for the roles to come. He was married to a nurse, Rhoda, whom he calls a "stout woman," and then he met and married two entertainers, Katy Jurado and Ethel Merman, before his disastrous late 60s marriage to the unfortunate Donna, who comes off like a hustling gold-digger here. Maybe all these wives were just rehearsals for the real thing, Tova, whose soap is so rich that, even in the harsh Arab countries in which Zeffirelli directed Ernest Borgnine in the prizewinning miniseries JESUS OF NAZARETH, Franco Z found he could work up lather even in the hard water of the native springs.
Ernie worked with many greats and usually has something secret to tell about each of them. He's old Hollywood, and knew Cagney, Tracy, Stewart, Cooper, Gable, etc. When Burt Lancaster was asked if he was endangering his heterosexual reputation by frequenting Rock Hudson's all-boy parties, he replied, "I go to the opera, too, Ernie--doesn't mean I sing." At the premiere of Convoy, star Kris Kristofferson turned to Ernie and confessed he didn't remember making the movie. Now that's rock and roll! Robert Aldrich scared Lee Marvin to get him to stop making racialized remarks about Jim Brown on the set of The Dirty Dozen. Then there were the roles Ernie almost got! He wanted to play The Godfather, but Coppola held out for Brando. Gene Wilder had the part in the Poseidon Adventure, but lost it when scheduling conflicts forced him to withdraw--lucky break for Red Buttons! Lee Marvin was offered the part of Quint in JAWS, but declined. Same with Mitchum and PATTON. George Lindsay (Goober) was supposed to play the part of Mr. Spock. In fact Borgnine seems obsessed with this sort of "what-if" alternative Hollywood history, I wonder why.
Ernie knew them all and got along fine even with legends with whom he did not work, telling John Wayne, for example, that they never worked together because "you're afraid to work with good actors, Duke." Wayne did a double take, then realized that Ernie was just joshing him.
Borgnine's career wasn't all four and five star movies, as he is the first to admit; he did whatever he was offered, and among them many of the all-time golden turkeys. But he always seems to land on his feet, despite his troubled upbringing as the son of a manic, paranoid mother and despite being used by gold-digging shrews who turned his children against him.
Summary of Ernie: The Autobiography
We wept at his Oscar-winning role in Marty...we gasped when he took on Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity...we were riveted by his compelling performances in The Dirty Dozen, Bad Day at Black Rock, and Ice Station Zebra...and we laughed at his television sitcom McHale's Navy. We loved all of Ernest Borgnine's many portrayals, but what did we know about the man behind the famous roles? Now for the first time, he tells us in his own words the fascinating story of his life in this witty, candid, and revealing memoir.For more than fifty years, Ernest--or "Ernie" as he's known to his friends--has been one of the most recognized, celebrated stars in Hollywood as well as a respected, talented actor, and a living legend. Stretching from his childhood as the son of Italian immigrants to a spectacular career that is still thriving in his 91st year, from the early days of live TV to the voiceovers for The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants, Ernie tells of the trials and tribulations on his road to fame, the friendships he shared with some of the silver screen's biggest stars, and the glamorous leading ladies he loved.
Acclaimed for his ability to play sensitive and tough-guy roles equally well, he was also famous for squaring off against some of Hollywood's most formidable actresses--including Bette Davis in A Catered Affair and Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar. Recalling his experiences starring in classic movies such as The Poseidon Adventure, The Wild Bunch, and Escape from New York, he reveals personal insights and irresistible stories about cinema's greatest icons--including Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Montgomery Clift, Gary Cooper, Janet Leigh, Raquel Welch, Gene Hackman, Rock Hudson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Curtis, Alan Ladd, Glenn Ford, and Burt Lancaster. And with characteristic frankness, he also talks about his off-screen loves and passions.
A must for every film buff, Ernie: An Autobiography is a fascinating memoir--filled with secrets, well-remembered details, and never-before-told stories--of a star who has thrived in the changing world of Hollywood for more than half a century, and endeared himself to legions of fans everywhere.
Ernest Borgnine is an Academy Award winning actor whose film and TV career has spanned more than sixty years. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Tova.
Entertainers Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Entertainers Books
El Sid: Saint Viciousby David Dalton
Griffin; Published: 1998-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
Moonwalkby Michael Jackson
Crown Archetype; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.44
Price in other shops:
High Society: The Life of Grace Kellyby Donald Spoto
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
Stand & Deliver: The Autobiographyby Adam Ant
Pan Macmillan; Published: 2007-04-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $105.86
San Antonio Rose: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BOB WILLS (Music in American Life)by Charles Townsend
University of Illinois Press; Published: 1986-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.50
Price in other shops:
Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanaduby Simon Callow
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops:
The Basketball Diariesby Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1987-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops:
Hollywood Animalby Joe Eszterhas
Hutchinson; Published: 2004; Paperback; Book
Love, Janisby Laura Joplin
It Books; Published: 2005-08-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
A Paper Life CDby Tatum O'Neal
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-10-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $17.77
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Robert Mitchum: "Baby I Don't Care"by Lee Server
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2001-03-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.99
Price in other shops:
A Fortunate Lifeby Robert Vaughn
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2008-10-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops:
'Tis Herself: A Memoirby Maureen O'Hara, John Nicoletti
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2004-02-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $35.16
Robert Mitchum: "Baby I Don't Care"by Lee Server
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2002-03-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Glenn Ford: A Life (Wisconsin Film Studies)by Peter Ford
University of Wisconsin Press; Published: 2011-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.31
Price in other shops:
My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Autobiography of Errol Flynnby Errol Flynn
Cooper Square Press; Published: 2002-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops:
American Prince: A Memoirby Tony Curtis, Peter Golenbock
Crown Archetype; Published: 2008-10-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.48
Price in other shops:
The Garner Files: A Memoirby James Garner, Jon Winokur
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2011-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotageby Eli Wallach
Mariner Books; Published: 2006-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
MartyMGM; Release date: 2001-06-19; DVD
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops: