At 98, Oscar Honoree Robert Boyle is One Happy Accident
Legendary production designer Robert Boyle (“North by Northwest,”"Fiddler on the Roof” and “In Cold Blood,” to name but a few) received an honorary Oscar last week, but we still don’t believe he’s 98. Articulate, funny and more lucid than Cameron Diaz, Boyle seemed more like a recent retiree than a grandfather verging on centenarianism.
Impressed, we tracked him down at his home above the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where he was nursing a sore left foot. He turned down the television so he could hear our question: What’s your secret?
A: “Actually, I’m not very fit. I have a torn Achilles tendon. (He slipped on the stairs of his home.) I wear a big boot now, but last night (at the Oscars) I didn’t wear it and kind of paid for it. I never did do anything right for my health. I was in the sun too much, and I suffer from skin cancer, I drank too much and smoked too much.
Q: Do you still do any of these things?
A: Oh, no. It would kill me.
Q: Did you use a Teleprompter for your speech?
A: My eyesight isn’t very good, so I didn’t rely on it. I memorized what I was going to say, which I wrote. I really didn’t think I did that well. I was surprised to hear people say they thought it was good. (We offer to e-mail him the You Tube link; he enthusiastically gives us his e-mail address.)
Q: What did you have for breakfast today?
A: A few three-minute eggs. I have no strict diet. I eat all kinds of food.
Q: Do you have any health issues?
A: I take a whole bunch of pills. At my age, everything is wrong; I have a bad ticker. I take so many pills I can’t count them; that’s the misery of my life. But my doctor loves it.
Q: Do you have any advice?
A: Life is full of accidents. By accident, you could be finished (with life) very early or very late. I’ve gone through a lot of problems, including being a soldier in World War II. It was just an accident I didn’t go under heavy, sharp objects. I’m interested (in life), that’s it.
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