McHale- Hail and Farewell
I just wanted to mention that we had a great time at the Lake in the Hills Rockin’ Ribfest yesterday!With slightly cooler temperatures than we’ve had to endure lately,and, in spite of having a slightly rough throat, we managed to survive quite nicely. We arrived late due to some nasty traffic and a few wrong turns, but arrived to find our fans waiting patiently in line- and without a single complaint or cross word, which shows how nice you guys are! We made sure we signed for everybody, had a great band next door playing hits from the band Chicago,and truly enjoyed our time at the Ribfest- even if we never got to the ribs! More Sven appearances coming next weekend-and we’ll hit them tomorrow here in the blog…
Yesterday, on our way back to the station from Ribfest, we heard via the radio that another classic TV actor had passed away- Ernest Borgnine,best known to so many viewers as Lt. Commander Quinton McHale,the commander of the PT 73 on “McHale’s Navy”! Borgnine was an amazing actor with a long career in movies and TV- he won an Oscar for his role as “Marty”, played plenty of tough guy villians in films like “From Here to Eternity”,dabbled in horror films like “Deadly Blessing” and “The Devil’s Rain”, and appeared in blockbusters like “The Poseidon Adventure”.Some TV viewers got to know him from his work on “Airwolf” (by the way, PLEASE don’t post a comment with the usual “you forgot he was in…”-I didn’t forget- I’M JUST NOT POSTING EVERY ROLE HE EVER DID!…okay- rant over.)With over one hunderd movies and countless TV roles,he had a prolific career.Borgnine passed away at the age of 95-just 5 years shy of reaching 100.
I may have told this story before, and I wish I could remember all the details- but I did “work” with Ernest Borgnine once!Back when I was doing “The Koz Zone” at Fox, we went to Universal Studios Orlando to shoot a week’s worth of shows at the theme park’s grand opening.There were things that weren’t working (the King Kong ride kept breaking down, and the “Jaws” ride was so messed up they didn’t even attempt to open it) and the “Psycho” house had been repainted for a prequel and was actually a bright yellow- but we wandered the park,shooting various segments, with a park worker as our guide who had previously worked for Disney, and spent most of his time putting down their theme parks while actually preventing us from shooting a lot of stuff. We learned to distract him or have him go try to get permission to shoot certain things, and, while he was gone, shooting it anyway. He’d return and say “No, they won’t let you do that” and we’d say “oh-okay”. We were just trying to make the park look cool and exciting- even the stuff that wasn’t quite cool and exciting yet- and they didn’t seem to grasp that..
But I digress- as we were wandering by one store, we saw Ernest Borgnine walk into it! Our lovely producer, a pretty Irish lass, went in to try and charm him into shooting a quick show intro with us. She explained what we were, how we were from Chicago and big fans- but Ernest didn’t seem to commit.She came out, and we discussed what to do instead- and out walked Borgnine, asking “Where’s Chicago?” (Not meaning where the city was, but where the crew from Chi-town was!) I introduced myself to him, and we went over what we’d do- a brief intro to the “Muppet Babies” cartoon- he’d say “I love the Muppet Babies- I watch them whenever I’m in Chicago!” I’d then ask him “How often are you in Chicago?” – and he’d reply (the big punchline) “…Never.” I’d do a Jack Benny take, and pitch it to the show.
So- we rolled tape- I introduced Ernest, and said next up was “Muppet Babies”- instead of doing his line, he asked in a confused voice “…Muppet Maybes?” I tried to lead him to his big punchline- he went nowhere near it- and ended it with “…but I watch!” I did a take to the camera, pitched to the show- then turned to thank him- and he was completely gone!?
Somewhere I have a tape of this- if I ever find it, I’ll give you the actual dialogue we had-but I guess now , I’ll never know if he was just goofing with me, or totally lost. It really doesn’t matter.
McHale- hail and farewell.You leave a heck of a legacy.
14 Responses to McHale- Hail and Farewell
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Sven: Sorry to hear about Ernest Borgnine, he was great. Very much enjoyed him as “Cabbie” in John Carpenter’s “Escape From New York”.
Also, I finally got some good photos with my Sven shirt, but the photo gallery is not up;oading them. Rather it begins to and then just goes into a perpetual loading cycle. Anyone have any suggestions concerning this problem with the Photo Gallery?
Sven, glad my computer wasn’t hacked, and I have internet to read your blog this morning. Glad you survived the heat wave and nice tribute to Mr. Borgnine. I’ll sign off on a positive note!
“Tonight the people were so fine, they waited there in line. . .” A small tribute to those Svengoolie fans who waited so patiently for you while you were unavoidablely detained. Anyhoo, I’m glad that the temperature was cooler and that you were able to sign for everybody.
I think Ernie was messing with you.
RIP Mr.Borgnine. I saw both movie versions of McHale’s Navy in the theater, a younger and better era.
Hmmmm…I didn’t think I got the virus but I just posted a comment that seems to have disappeared. Anyway, I was saying that Ernest’s good friend, George “Goober ” Lindsey just died in May, so at least he has a friend waiting for him.
wow! I’m surprised that ol’ Ernest did a intro to Muppet Babies! That old producer must have been a real pretty ”Lass” to get an intro from a legend for “Muppet Babies”….. oh the memories, huh dude?:….LOL!
Sven/Rich: I agree with Pete. I think Mr. Borgnine was just kidding with you and your crew that day. From everything I’ve read and heard about Mr. Borgnine, he was a genuinely nice man–classy, down-to-earth, and with a good sense of humor. BTW, he was once married to the glamorous Mexican-born actress Katy Jurado. Probably Ms. Jurado’s best-known role is as saloon keeper Helen Ramirez in the classic Western “High Noon.” That film also features Lon Chaney, Jr. in one of his most memorable character roles, as the retired, arthritic sheriff that reluctantly hands over the reins to Gary Cooper’s character. Among Ms. Jurado’s other many film credits is a 1968 Elvis Presley movie, “Stay Away, Joe,” which also features Burgess Meredith (The Penguin himself) in a supporting role.
I was privileged to see Ernest Borgnine at Atlanta’s DragonCon last Labor Day weekend. The older attendees remembered his film & TV work (including the attempted SF Epic “The Black Hole”), the younger crowd knew him as the voice of “Mermaid Man” from “Spongebob Squarepants”. Mr Borgnine was a sheer hoot; friendly, boisterous, jovial, and had dozens of stories to tell. Everyone at both of his talks were enthralled. And for a 91 year old, he had a vice grip for a handshake.
From what I’ve read, the original pilot of “McHale’s Navy” with Ernest Borgnine was a one-hour comedy/drama called “Seven Against the Sea,” but the drama element was dropped when it went to series. So I’m guessing Tim Conway wasn’t a part of that first pilot.
I couldn’t attend but a friend was able to get Ernest’s auto for me at last year’s DragonCon. He signed a pix from the Wild Bunch. That little laugh he does right before the final gunfight gets me.
…and who could forget his role as the cabby in “Escape From New York”?
…aaahh… Katy Jurado… what a fiery beauty…
Ernest was an AWSOME actor with tons of great movies and voice overs He will be missed !!!! R.I.P.
thanks so much for hanging in there at Ribfest. it was a hoot to hang with everyone, having fun, while we waited to say ‘hello’ and get an autograph. We arrived just at 2:00, and were thrilled that you stayed a bit later.
One should watch on of the “McHale’s Navy” movies, take a break, and watch “Bad Day at Black Rock”. The contrast in characters is incredible! He was one of the best of the bad guys. I still can’t believe he’s gone.