SADDLE 'EM UP AGE IS JUST A NUMBER FOR OLD COWBOY ACTORS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

AGOURA HILLS - It's the laugh that grabs you first. It starts deep in Ernest Borgnine's belly and erupts into a roar that melts away the last 45 years.

We grew up with that laugh in dark movie houses and on living room TV screens.

He was the bad guy we jeered in ``From Here To Eternity'' in 1953 - and the good guy we rooted for in ``Marty'' in 1955, and later in ``McHale's Navy'' on TV from 1962 to 1966.

And now, at 84 - long after most of his contemporaries have ridden off into the sunset - Borgnine is standing in the middle of a field at Paramount Ranch in Agoura last week laughing his head off.

It's been 32 years since he last climbed on a horse for a motion picture - ``The Wild Bunch'' in 1969 - and to get on this one now for a new feature film he needs a little help.

A step ladder and a push.

But like riding a bike, you don't forget. You may be a little shaky at first, but it all comes back.

Within minutes, Borgnine's galloping off down the trail and up hills, laughing and carrying on like a little kid.

``What a ball,'' he said later. ``I felt like a cowboy again at 84. It was like old times.''

Old times. More a curse than a fond memory in Hollywood today for veteran actors whose long resume of solid work is often older than the age of the people making the movies and doing the hiring.

Roles like this one for an upcoming feature movie, ``The Long Ride Home'' - a father (Borgnine) and his two sons hitting the trail to avenge the murder of a loved one - are rare these days.

``It gets you a little frustrated and angry because there's so much veteran actors have to offer the industry, but the roles just aren't there,'' Borgnine said. ``A lot of my old friends are just withering on the vine.''

Veteran publicists like Harry Flynn of North Hollywood think the industry is writing off big box office business because it can't look beyond age.

``Older people have the same problems as younger people, we just don't move as fast, that's all,'' joked the 70-year-old Flynn, who has been in the business 45 years, handling clients like Michael Landon and Elizabeth Montgomery.

``There's a big audience out there that the industry is not tapping into, a solid audience of people who don't go to movies anymore because there are not any pictures being made they want to see,'' Flynn said.

``Half the country is over 60, so where are the movies and TV shows for older people?''

That's also what veteran character actor John Locke, 63, of Van Nuys, wants to know. His career as a movie and TV cowboy bad guy basically dried up in the 1980s, he said.

``Suddenly, it was people getting out of high school and college making the movies and doing the hiring, and they didn't want anything to do with older people,'' said Locke, whose long resume of work includes playing the bad guy in 10 ``Wagon Trains,'' five ``Virginians,'' and dozens of other old TV and movie westerns.

Today, he makes his living managing an Encino realty firm, and traveling on weekends to make personal appearances and entertain at western functions.

``I'm a crusty old cowboy who's been fighting for 20 years for more roles for veteran actors,'' Locke said.

Borgnine's been fighting right along with him.

``You can't write people off because of some number,'' the veteran actor said, rubbing his saddle-sore backside.

``We can still do the job, even if we may need a step ladder and a push to get back on that horse,'' he laughed.

It's like riding a bike. You don't forget.

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Movie veteran Ernest Borgnine and other older actors are at a loss to understand why Hollywood isn't making more films - using older actors - that older viewers would go see.