It was his longtime publicist Harry Flynn who convinced Borgnine to talk about his life and colorful career. "I said, 'Harry. Get off my back.' Finally, I said OK."
Flynn bought Borgnine a tape recorder to chronicle his humble beginnings as the son of poor Italian immigrants through to his acting career: the tough-guy roles in such films as "From Here to Eternity," his turn as a lovelorn lonely butcher in "Marty," his role in the TV sitcom "McHale's Navy" and his latest efforts, including providing the voice of Mermaid Man on "SpongeBob SquarePants."
"I just told the truth and nothing phony about it," Borgnine says about his autobiography. "If people like it, great; if people don't, too bad. I am sorry to say the last of my ex-wives expired last week. Tova is very healthy. There were times we thought [the marriage] can't go, but we made it, by golly. We are more in love today than we have ever been."
His fifth marriage is a far cry from his third marriage in 1964 to singer Ethel Merman. That one lasted just 32 days. When the late Merman published her autobiography years ago, the chapter devoted to Borgnine was a blank page. Borgnine, though, goes into more details about their ill-fated union.
"Before we were married, everything was wonderful. I would go to New York to see her and she'd come out here to see me. It was kind of one of those wonderful kind of things. So, finally, one day I said, 'Why don't we get married so we don't have to go back and forth all the time?' She thought about it and said, 'That's a good idea.' But it was like day and night."
Merman, he says, got incensed and extremely jealous on their honeymoon in Hawaii and Tokyo when he got much more attention from fans than she did.
"It was a shame, really," he says, "because she could sing. But I'm telling you she could drive a person crazy."
Then Borgnine lets out a hearty, loud laugh -- one of those infectious laughs that seems to come from the tips of his toes and roars out of his widely smiling mouth. A laugh that says it's good to be 91.
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susan.king@latimes.com
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After all these years
Though he's made more than his share of clinkers, Ernest Borgnine has appeared in numerous classic and cult films, including "From Here to Eternity," "Marty," "The Wild Bunch" and "The Poseidon Adventure." The Oscar-winning actor offers his thoughts about several of his films.
"Marty" (1955)
