I love this guy, more for the memories than anything. I’m currently watching Emperor of the North on Netflix.
As a kid, I remember being home from school sick (Maybe 6 or 7) and my Dad was sick too. We watched McHale’s Navy while sitting on the couch sharing a blanket. My Dad was Navy, as was most of my Uncles and family. Good times.
I see now that he’s doing Sponge Bob Square Pants.
What a cool dude. I think I ought to get my copy of The Wild Bunch out.
Live long and prosper, Mr. Borgnine!
he’s great as Cabbie in Escape From New York
nobody gets to meet the Duke. You meet him once and then you’re dead
If you haven’t yet, check him out in The Vikings with Kirk Douglas. It’s a great performance and it’s amazing how much more handsome he is with a beard.
ODIN!!
“Ma, sooner or later, there comes a point in a man’s life when he’s gotta face some facts. And one fact I gotta face is that… whatever it is women like, I ain’t got it.”
He was absolutely, heartbreakingly perfect as Marty… a well-deserved Oscar.
The fact that he was equally convincing as a shy, sad sack middle-aged butcher AND as a cutthroat in “The Wild Bunch” suggests he was a much more versatile actor than he gets credit for.
I can still hum the theme song for McHale’s Navy.
He’s definitely one of my favorite actors.
We just saw him in Red, made just a year or two ago. He was in his mid 90’s, looking and sounding VERY good for his age.
What accounts for his longevity, I wonder?
Got to agree with all of you, but he played the character of Marty to perfection.
I saw the thread title, I thought he was dead.
Just like Snake Plisskin.
I read “Ernie: The Autobiography” this summer, kind of superficial, but interesting as show biz memoirs always are; he certainly had a long career. Funny how the older he gets, the better looking he gets.
Aw, come on, you all know “Airwolf” was his greatest series of scripts!
I opened the thread and thought he died and did the Jesus-cross. He was spectacular in Red – I had to convince a few people he was still alive after they saw that picture.
Besides, when you can call a Whisky Presbyterian (bourbon/whiskey + [whaddya call it, that ginger soda?]) an “Ernest Borgnine” as shorthand, you know you’ve got it made.
Great actor – the world would have been much smaller without him in it.
This thread about old character actors got me wondering about who’s older: Borgnine or Eli Wallach?
Borgnine was born on January 24, 1917.
Wallach was born on December 7, 1915.
I’d guess it’s some combination of lifestyle, luck, and especially genes. It’s amazing to me how extreme longevity can run in families. (Thinking of my wife’s paternal grandparents, uncle, and four aunts, all living well into their 90’s)
The IMDB says Borgnine has worked in four films since Red.
.
.
I mentioned in a recent thread that I saw him at Dragon*Con (a huge sci-f/fantasy expo in Atlanta) over Labor Day weekend and he looks great. He’s 94 but was signing autographs, laughing with kids, and though he certainly looked old he looks like he has a few more miles on him, which was somehow reassuring.
You left out a fourth factor . . .
Billions now living shall never die.