The Best of Ernest Borgnine: ‘Marty,’ ‘McHale’s Navy’ & More (VIDEO)
Advice about growing old, a cameo on ‘SpongeBob,’ and more clips featuring the Oscar winner.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Secret to Long Life
Asked, “What’s the secret to old age?” on the TV talk show Fox & Friends, the late Ernest Borgnine appears hesitant to offer his secret. “You don’t eat meat,” offers one commentator. Then, with a mischievous grin, Borgnine leans over and whispers something no one is ready for: “I masturbate a lot.”
‘Marty’
In this clip from 1955’s Marty, the title character, played by Borgnine, is offered some advice from his mother: “Why don’t you go to the Stardust Ballroom? It’s loaded with tomatoes.” We’re going to assume “tomatoes” are eligible bachelorettes, but this bachelor will have none of it, claiming he’s “just a fat little man, a fat ugly man.” Aw, we still love you, Marty!
Building Brotherhood
The ever-charming Borgnine offers his advice about building brotherhood to U.S. Navy and Marine officers in this clip. A Navy vet himself, Borgnine speaks directly to one officer: “General, in my estimation, you’re my hero, man.” On a more serious note, he offers, “Let’s never forget that war is hell, and as long as we have wars, we’re in trouble ... We need to get the world back to brotherhood again.”
Quick Thinking
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Borgnine starred in the sitcom McHale’s Navy as Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale from 1962 to 1966. In this episode, Borgnine jumps in to save his fellow troop members’ skin—and his own—when they’re caught cross-dressing before the brass.
Mer-MAN!
Borgnine was a man of many talents—and he showed one more when he lent his voice to the popular children’s cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. Playing an aging superhero named Merman (with sidekick Barnacle Boy), Borgnine takes on the “champion of the deep.”
‘Convoy’
In his most vocal role, Borgnine plays an irate officer looking for a car. What he gets is a couple of teenagers with mouths full of illegal substances.
‘ER’
Playing a doting and warm-hearted husband, Borgnine’s character has to make tough decisions about his wife’s unsteady condition in this episode of the hit NBC drama.
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