>BY MARILYN BECK and STACY JENEL SMITH
 
If Ernest Borgnine's performance in the Hallmark Channel's forthcoming "A Grandpa for Christmas" comes off as deeply felt -- and it does -- it could be because the beloved 90-year-old movie-and-TV star had his own painful experience to draw from in playing a man whose daughter has been estranged from him since childhood.

"I read it and said, 'Oh, God. This is me,' " he says, referring to the end of his fourth marriage in 1972. He was making "The Revengers" with William Holden in Mexico when he got word that his then-wife was suing him for divorce. He was shocked. As he recalls it, "I got back from the picture, and there were two men with guns on at the front door, a big stack of cases with my things, and my Oscar sitting on top of it. She said, 'Take your stuff and get out … ' "

He remembers shortly thereafter coming to visit his young son and daughter, "and they were standing at the door with their mother. I said, 'Hey, kids!' and my daughter said, 'Oh, Daddy, we don't want to see you anymore.' It broke my heart. It really did. I didn't see them for a few years." Eventually, though, "my kids came back to me," he says. "They're happy now. What can you do? It's one of those things."

The holiday telefilm has Borgnine as a former movie heavy who learns he has a granddaughter only after his daughter (Tracy Nelson) is critically injured in an automobile accident, and he's asked to take care of the child (Juliette Goglia).

It's one of three movies the energetic nonagenarian's got going in a row, including "Aces and Eights," a Western, and "Another Harvest," a drama he's soon to begin shooting in Harrisburg, Pa., with Anne Meara. Ernie is also just finishing his autobiography with the aid of longtime publicist Harry Flynn. Considering his swath across Hollywood, his five marriages (he's been wed to current wife, Tova, for 35 years now), and the faithful outlook that he says keeps him going, it ought to be some book.

OH, CREPE: Beautiful French star Juliette Binoche, an exceptional cook who told us she was learning to make pancakes for her role in Steve Carell's "Dan in Real Life" comedy, opening Oct. 26, says that she did, in fact, master the art. But alas, her effort, um, fell flat. "I wanted to surprise my actor friends with the best pancake recipe for a scene I had to play," she recalls. "During the shoot, I was staying at a hotel in Newport (R.I.). The hotel's cook was a generous and creative man, and I asked him if we could invent a recipe together. He agreed, and every Sunday, we would rehearse and make those pancakes and invite producers, the director and their children to taste and enjoy the feast. No actors were invited, they had to wait for the special day of shooting!"

Before long, she continues, "the word was spread. Everybody was waiting for the most gorgeous, delicious pancakes. The day finally arrived. All the items were ready, we checked every single detail for the secret recipe. After hair and makeup, we had rehearsal on the set, but -- surprise, surprise! -- the incredible pancakes suddenly had to change into this anti-allergic, no-wheat-or-yeast pancakes because of allergy problems of one kid. So the whole day, the actors had to eat, take after take, these unspeakably heavy, tasteless pancakes. … They were so sick afterward that none of the actors wanted to talk about it."

MOSS GATHERS: The celebrity sightings have been coming in at a quick clip at London's May Fair Hotel this week. We're told by a source on the scene that Kate Moss used the hotel's Crystal room as a photo-shoot backdrop for her new Topshop collection on Tuesday, and after that, she held a soiree in the hotel's Opium suite, where she partied with Naomi Campbell, Stella McCartney and Kelly Osborne 'til the wee hours. On Wednesday, Ewan McGregor was making the scene at the hotel's Penthouse suite, touting Davidoff Cool Water cologne, for which he's the celebrity face. And McCartney was back, fitting Patti LaBelle -- a guest at the hotel -- for her dress for the Fashion Rocks event, while the board of Chanel met at one of the hotel's private suites.

EXERCISE IS 'LOST': "My work is my workout" says "Lost" regular Michael Emerson. The Emmy-winning, mild-mannered, somewhat nebbishy actor who plays Ben Linus, the evil head of the castaways known as "The Others," adds, "I continue to be amazed that I spend so much of my story line in scenes of violence because I'm not the most physical person. I think it's hilarious that I'm in an action program because I'm the last guy they would ever pick for running through jungles. And there are really physically fit people on the show, like Terry O'Quinn, Matthew Fox and Josh Holloway. … I'm always a little bit intimidated."

Still, Emerson notes it's his very lack of overt testosterone that makes him the perfect villain. "It's a reverse packaging. People like the idea that the scariest criminals come in the mildest packages. As if the fact that the neighbor was 'such a nice, quiet person, he helped me carry my groceries' is proof he's not a psychopath or a serial killer."

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With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.