# Fun Facts about Ernest Borgnine (who turned 90 today) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154 "2007-01-23T21:34:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/1 "2007-01-23T21:34:43Z")
Since we haven’t celebrated the life of a legendary if geriatric actor lately, I thought, what better day than the occasion of [Ernest Borgnine’s Birthday](http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20070122/D8MQJBT80.html) to bring to light the lesser known facts about the great man’s life? Here’s what I know: - During the filming of an episode of Airwolf, Jan Michael Vincent fell twenty feet out of the prop helecopter model they had suspended above the studio. He was fortunately able to walk away with no injuries as a result of his fall being broken by Ernest Borgnine’s eyebrows. - France had once offered to name a succulent meat dish after Ernest Borgnine, but he politely declined. Somewhat put off by his seeming haughtiness, they instead named it _Beef Bourguignon_, which means “Ignorant American with wide pants.” - Ernest Borgnine has prehensile hair. - Although his jaw is capable of exerting pressures of up to 400PSI on anything they clamp down on, Ernest Borgnine is able to carry his young with incredible delicacy. - Ernest Borgnine’s ears contain Eustachian tubes that are capable of expanding to four times their normal size when they sense danger. - Chairman Mao Tse Tung is said never to sit down to a meal without offering up a prayer and a handful of rice to Ernest Borgnine. Okay, your turn. What do you know about Ernest Borgnine that we may further learn of his greatness? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/2 "2007-01-23T21:58:04Z")
He was really a PT boat Commander in WWII and served in the same Squadron as JFK\* He had an illegitimate child with Ethel Merman. He was considered for the lead in From Here to Eternity. He lost out on the call back however. Jim - John Fitzroy Kelley that is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/3 "2007-01-23T22:03:24Z")
Um, he out-acted William Shatner in **The Devil’s Rain**. But then, so did the “dissolving flesh” special-effects goop… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/4 "2007-01-23T22:07:07Z")
Chuck Norris calls Ernest Borgnine “The only man I truly fear”. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/5 "2007-01-23T22:23:32Z")
In an episode of All in the Family, Archie referred to aborigines as A. Borgnines. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/6 "2007-01-23T23:01:07Z")
He looks so good because he is actually Borg of Nine. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/7 "2007-01-24T00:42:33Z")
Just to put a little truth in this thread: • Ernest Borgnine was really married to Ethel Merman. • Ernest Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935 and served until 1945. • Ernest Borgnine has a Best Acting Oscar. okay might as well inject a little embellishment • In a little-known incident in 1944, Ernest Borgnine slapped John Wayne in the face exclaiming “What’s this 'I tried to join bullshit? I’m an actor _and_ I’ve been in the service 9 damned years !!! Quit playing saddle tramp and join the service you sissy!!!” This encounter so disrupted Mr Wayne that the two never worked together on any project. Whenever “McHale’s Navy” was filming within 10 miles of John Wayne he made sure he had extra bodyguards, attack dogs, and outrageously large supplies of ammo. cc: Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, James Stewart ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/8 "2007-01-24T01:32:22Z")
I think he also provides the voice of “Mermaid Man” on the Spongebob Squarepants episodes. 🆒 What, do you think I watch Spongebob Squarepants? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/9 "2007-01-24T02:16:56Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Just to put a little truth in this thread: • Ernest Borgnine was really married to Ethel Merman. • Ernest Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935 and served until 1945. • Ernest Borgnine has a Best Acting Oscar. [/QUOTE] Okay, that is freaking odd. I had no clue he was ever really married to Ethel Merman or in the Navy. Those were both suppose to be jokes. > [@](#): > > [Twice-wed Borgnine](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000308/bio) married thrice-wed Broadway diva Ethel Merman in 1964. Their marriage was dissolved after 32 days. They had announced their impending nuptials at the legendary New York night spot P.J. Clarke’s, but Borgnine, who was riding high as the star of “McHale’s Navy” (1962) at the time, said the marriage began unraveling on their honeymoon, when he received more fan attention than she did. The competitive Merman was left seething. “By the time we got home, it was hell on earth,” Borgnine recalled in a 2001 interview. “And after 32 days I said to her, ‘Madam, bye.’” Borgnine went on to marry a third time, but Merman remained single after her divorce. In her 1978 biography, she devoted a chapter of her autobiography to the marriage: It consisted of one blank page. Jim 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/10 "2007-01-24T02:23:08Z")
Because Dutch controls are actually reversed from American helicopter controls, Michael Jan Vincent _couldn’t actually fly_ Airwolf–Ernest Borgnine did from the back seat. [Wilford Brimley](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=367144) and Ernest Borgnine once got into a fight. Brimley spun himself up into a cocoon trying to metamorphosize into a younger man. Borgnine just pulled out a Ka-Bar, cut his way through the silk, and suckerpunched Brimley in the face. Ernest Borgnine actually wrote [‘High Flight’](http://www.skygod.com/quotes/highflight.html) when he spontaneously learned to fly. However, it was rewritten to be more politically correct, because in fact, Borgnine reached out and “. . . high fived God.” Tripler I know these things, because I’ve seen his manuscript of an autoiography. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/11 "2007-01-24T02:51:11Z")
Ah, see? More facts are coming to light! - **What Exit?** has a special psychic connection to Ernest Borgnine and is able to divine portions of his life through sheer will. Also, **What Exit** can sense what food Ernest is currently digesting. - Ernest Borgnine once made a sandwich consisting of two slices of ham and one thin slice of every cheese on Earth. It was four feet high and took him three days to consume. - Ernest Borgnine was originally to try out for the role of Captain Merril Stubing during casting for _The Love Boat_, but former _McHale’s Navy_ castmate Gavin McLeod, wanting the lead role himself for a change, convinced him not to attend by informing him that the role of Stubing was intended to be gay. - The Ojibwa Indians bestowed Ernest Borgnine with the honorary Indian name “Dances Like Buffalo” for reasons he would rather not discuss. - Ernest Borgnine was Rodney Dangerfield’s body double in _Back to School_. - Ernest Borgnine’s only ticklish spot is his gums. - The IHOP in Madison, Wisconsin maintains a shrine to Ernest Borgnine at a booth in the far corner where he had once sat. Among autographed paraphernalia adorning the walls, there is also a cast of his bum on the wall made from the impression he left in the vinyl seat. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/12 "2007-01-24T03:01:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] …snip… Also, **What Exit** can sense what food Ernest is currently digesting. [/QUOTE] ::tapping psychic connection:: Prunes and Pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/13 "2007-01-24T03:09:37Z")
Since I lack a sense of humor, I’ll toss out a couple of real true facts - Ernest Borgnine rules the country, being a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason. Ernest Borgnine is also a Shriner, and Chuck Norris once laughed at him as Ernest drove a tiny car - this explains Chucks 2-year hiatus from 96 to 98. Incredible strides in reconstructive surgery also resulted from this incident. Small children are allowed to laugh at Ernest Borgnine, but not adult may laugh at the adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. This bums out Tim Conway (who voices Barnacle Boy) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/14 "2007-01-24T03:18:10Z")
True story: I met Ernest Borgnine once, but I didn’t immediately recognize him. He was dressed as a clown at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/15 "2007-01-24T03:22:12Z")
While Ernest Borgnine was starring in _McHale’s Navy_ the Japanese were so intimidated that they actually surrendered all over again. Unable to convince the producers of _From Here to Eternity_ that his Fatso Judson character should have easily been able to defeat Pruitt in a knife fight, Ernest Brognine used a real switchblade while filming the scene. Although Judson died in the fight, as called for in the script, the knife wound that Montgomery Clift’s character received (and ultimately died from) was, in fact, real. Ernest Borgnine was originally supposed to have a cameo role in _Airplane_. When his part was cut while Ethel Merman’s cameo stayed in, it forever spoiled a reconciliation between the two. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/16 "2007-01-24T03:39:41Z")
[He’s actually one hell of a good actor.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048356/) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/17 "2007-01-24T14:48:47Z")
Here’s a true fact: I thought Ernest Borgnine was dead. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/18 "2007-01-24T14:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] He had an illegitimate child with Ethel Merman. [/QUOTE] On the very off chance that this isn’t a whoosh, the “illegitimate child of Ernest and Ethel” business is the schtick of drag queen [Varla Jean Merman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varla_Jean_Merman). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/19 "2007-01-24T15:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Here’s a true fact: I thought Ernest Borgnine was dead. [/QUOTE] Here’s another: he’s apparently [92](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000308/). IMDb lists his DOB as 1/24/15. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154/20 "2007-01-24T15:05:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] - The Ojibwa Indians bestowed Ernest Borgnine with the honorary Indian name “Dances Like Buffalo” for reasons he would rather not discuss. [/QUOTE] Rumor has it that they weren’t referring to the animal, but rather, the city. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-about-ernest-borgnine-who-turned-90-today/389154.md?page=2)