Sunday, July 8, 2012

RIP Ernest Borgnine…



Ever since I was a young kid, I would hear my mother say deaths come in threes. And, it always seemed like they did. Three celebrities would invariable die within a few days to a couple of weeks of each other. I just accepted it. Then I had my own kids and tried to pass on this piece of wisdom to them. My older daughter wouldn’t buy it and gave me a hard time about it. How famous do all the people have to be? What is the time limit between deaths? Etc etc etc. She is always a pain in the neck like that, questioning everything to death. Of course, I didn’t have the answers to all her questions because I just accepted my mother’s words as true without skepticism. I gave up trying to get my daughter to accept it.

Ernest Borgnine died today. It’s just 5 days after Andy Griffith died. It’s within the “death comes in threes” timetable. Another icon from my childhood is gone. But Ernest, like Andy, was up there in years. He had a long and happy life. His acting career was amazing. There wasn’t a part he played that I didn’t enjoy. There was something very special about him and in act he reminds me quite a bit of ndy Griffith in that he smiled a lot and for a big man, he had a very gentle nature.

My favorite movie of Ernest Borgnine is “Marty.” My husband introduced me to it years ago because he liked character movies. Ernie played an Italian man, in his thirties, who never married and lived with his mother. Everyone in his family is married, siblings and cousins. Marty can’t seem to find the right girl. He wants to be married, but he has low self esteem and doesn’t think he is very good looking. He suffers many rejections and heartache because he is really a very sensitive guy. Marty’s mother, family and friends are typical Italians. They want to see everyone married. They badger Marty all the time about his not being married. It only pours salt in his open wounds. The movie tells a good story, and it is full of typical Italian ways and thinking. Being Italian myself, I could relate to it and even had a few laughs, as I could recognize some of my own relatives in the dialogue. I won’t spoil the movie by explaining everything that happens, but I do recommend it if you are an Ernest Borgnine fan.

Ernest Borgnine will be greatly missed. His work has touched generations of people. Most of the actors today don’t come close to measuring up to the likes of Ernest Borgnine. It’s another sad day. Rest in peace Ernest Borgnine.


Note: I know I have been slacking on the blogs lately, but I have been working very hard on the house and haven been to tired to crank out a blog. I couldn't let the day go by without saying a few words for Ernest Borgnine. Now I am afraid my blog is looking more and more like an obituary. Bear with me, I hope to be back to writing regularly soon.


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