Ernest Borgnine: Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Ernest Borgnine

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

My own doctor, Paul Rudnick.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2011 source ↗

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Ruth Jones Welsh actress, producer, and writer

My mother, Hannah: nearly 82, mother of four, homemaker, retired GP and knitter extraordinaire.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 November 2018 source ↗

Patti Smith Musician, poet and photographer

The artist Gerhard Richter.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2024 source ↗

Allison Janney

My niece, Petra Janney, who got her pilot’s license to rescue animals from rural kill shelters and have them placed with different pet adoption agencies.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2025 source ↗

Paul Weller English singer-songwriter and musician

David Attenborough, because he sticks to what he loves and is still passionate about it. God bless him.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 June 2014 source ↗

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Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When: I finish a good scene. Where: looking back, in the navy.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2011 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Having gone through the depression of ’29, I’d hate to see the U.S. hit bottom and not come back!

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2011 source ↗

Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

Finally, a happy marriage, of now 39 years!

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 February 2011 source ↗

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Meg Rosoff, Angus Deayton, Joan Rivers, Martin Freeman, Ann Patchett, Ivan Lendl

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