"Call me Snake".
Posted on 01/23/2007 7:10:18 AM PST by lunarbicep
At a recent reunion of the cast of the 1960s TV comedy "McHale's Navy," the actors were appalled at the arrival of their former commandant. A driver helped Ernest Borgnine from the car. The once-exuberant Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale was stooped over and walked haltingly, muttering gibberish.
His former ensign, comedian Tim Conway, rushed forward and exclaimed, "Ernie, what has happened to you?"
Suddenly Borgnine straightened up, threw out his massive chest and bellowed, "What's going on here?" followed by his signature high-decible laugh.
Prankster Borgnine shows little evidence of aging as he approaches his 90th birthday on Wednesday. His round, pudgy face is little changed. His only concession to age was abandoning the bus he used to drive around the country, talking with local folks along the way.
"I gave up the bus when I was 88," he said. "I figured if I had an accident, I could be sued for plenty. Now I take cruises. I just returned from one that started in Auckland, New Zealand, and visited a lot of islands. I made a couple of speeches and had a great time."
Borgnine is preparing for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, but otherwise his film work has been scarce of late.
"I keep telling myself, `Damn it, you gotta go to work,"' he said. "But there aren't many people who want to put Borgnine to work these days. They keep asking, `Is he still alive?'"
Borgnine talked about his life and times at his spacious aerie near Coldwater Canyon in the higher reaches of Beverly Hills. He bought the 14-room house in 1965 for $110,000 and has expanded it. The value now is in the millions.
The Borgnine story is unique among Hollywood sagas because acting had nothing to do with it for nearly three decades.
He was born in Hamden, Conn., to Italian parents. They divorced when he was 2 and his mother took him to live in Italy. He returned to the U.S. five years later and joined the Navy in 1935. He was discharged in 1941, then re-enlisted when World War II started.
"I never considered being an actor until I was 28," he said. "When I was home from the Navy after the war, my mother said, `Have you ever thought of becoming an actor?' I decided to give it a try."
He joined a drama company in Hartford, Conn., then spent five years at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Va., learning the actor's trade from the bottom up. He moved to New York where he played a role in "Harvey" and appeared in television dramas.
Hollywood discovered Borgnine- as a heavy. He was the vicious soldier who beat Frank Sinatra to a pulp in "From Here To Eternity" and the outlaw who menaced one-armed Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock." Then along came "Marty."
Rod Steiger had won plaudits for his role as the shy Bronx butcher in Paddy Chayefsky's original TV drama and was considered ideal for the film version. But he had already signed to play the villain Jud in "Oklahoma!" Chayefsky and director Delbert Mann scouted other actors, including Ernest Borgnine.
"They came to the set of `Bad Day at Black Rock' and asked if I could read some scenes from `Marty,'" Borgnine recalled. "So I started reading from the script and all of a sudden I started crying. I gave the performance of my life. I looked over and saw that Paddy and Delbert were crying too. I knew I had won the part."
"Marty" was an Oscar phenomenon. The low-budget, black-and-white drama competed against such giants as "Picnic" and "Mister Roberts." A publicity campaign which cost more than the movie's budget blanketed the industry. Result: Oscars for best picture and for Borgnine, Mann and Chayefsky. Borgnine's salary for the film: $5,000.
Borgnine spoke frankly about his five wives, including Katy Jurado, the Mexican actress with whom Ernie battled across Europe and America; Ethel Merman, to whom he was married for 32 days, and Tova, the beauty-products tycoon.
"Tova and I have been married for 34 years," Borgnine said proudly, "That's longer than the total of my four other marriages." The thought of it prompted another loud guffaw.
Tova appeared during the interview, and the pair posed for some lovey-dovey photographs. She has sold her company to a competitor, for which she is now the spokeswoman. She is indeed the ideal representative: perfect skin, coiffeur, attire.
Asked about today's movies, Borgnine responded: "I don't like `em. Oh, there are some good ones that come along. I liked the two pictures that Clint Eastwood made. `The Queen' is very good. I liked `Bobby.' But the majority... ." His voice trailed off.
Borgnine will celebrate his birthday Wednesday with a festive dinner with friends and family at a local bistro. Asked if he had any more mountains to climb, he replied: "I just want to do more work. Every time I step in front of a camera I feel young again. I really do. It keeps your mind active and it keeps you going."
I have March 20th pencilled in on my calender. That's the day "McHales Navy," the complete 1st-season (1962-63) is slated to be released on dvd!
Just a correction. It wasn't Opie/Richie Cummingham co-starring with Borgnine in the 1979 version, it was John Boy Walton, a.k.a. Richard Thomas. And yes, it was a pretty good TV movie.
Who among the current crowd will look this good or be this loved at 90?
Or, rather, be alive, or be remembered at all.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Ernie!
Semper Fidelis,
fontman
Can I just say how thrilled I am that this was not an obituary. It really saddens me when those of the WWII generation pass away, especially those who served so bravely.
I'm so happy to read he is alive and well and enjoying a good laugh!!
I wish someone would compile a web page that tracks those that are still around and how we can contact them (not just the vets, but those from the golden age of radio and the big band era, too) to say thanks, we appreciate what you did and we're keeping your work alive and well. Anyone know of a good resource like that?
Richard Thomas played the lead (Paul). He and Borgnine were wonderful as was much of the cast.
That's what I call a workaholic:
Katy Jurado never did anything for me; whereas, I think Grace Kelly has to be one of the most beautiful women to ever appear in film or on earth.
Thank you very much for the correction. It was Richard Thomas aka John Boy Walton.
Borgnine grew up near the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Arch Street in Hamden, serving Mass at St. Anne's Church, an Italian nationality church.
Yes. You are correct. It was Richard Thomas aka John Boy Walton. He looked like Gov. Dukakas in uniform but I thought that fit the story perfectly.
Jurado was married twice, first to Mexican actor Victor Velazquez with whom she had two children and secondly to actor Ernest Borgnine 1959-1963.
That's what makes a horse race.
Happy Birthday Ernie. You look fantastic!
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