I am fascinated by the recent stories of a couple of 20th century entertainment icons. Perhaps dubbing these two guys in such lofty terms might sound a little strong, but let's take a closer look.
Ernest Borgnine is someone we all know on sight, even at 91. He won an academy award for his role as Marty, one of those guys - in this case a butcher - whom the world seems to pass over. Because of his longevity he stands as the oldest living Oscar winning Best Actor. Perhaps most of us know him as Lt. Commander Quentin McHale in McHale's Navy (Borgnine was actually in the Navy before and during WWII). And if you saw his latest performance, you might applaud his staying power. At least (and you'll forgive me for this) with one hand.
The other man in this loose category is Ed McMahon at 85. We all remember him as Mr. Sidekick. He was Johnny Carson's announcer and sometime foil for a generation. He was Dick Clark's sidekick with Bloopers. He was the front man for Star Search, which is fair to call the progenitor to America's Got Talent and American idol. And he was the consummate pitchman for Insurance, magazines and other products aimed at older adults.
McMahon is broke, both literally and figuratively. He broke his neck and the lavish lifestyle, rivaling his former bosses, came crashing down all around him and his wife in tabloid headlines. The only thing keeping him out of bankruptcy is he is not qualified for bankruptcy; too old for any promise of payback under Chapter 13 and too much stuff to walk away from under Chapter 7. Ed is in a terrible fix.
Ernie, on the other hand, is literally fat and happy. He and his wife of 35 years, Tova, are stars of Home Shopping and cruises and whatever might get those older than 60 to pay attention. More importantly this group of admirers also pays a little of their significant stash to whatever Ernie and Tova have going.
This week both men were back in the news. Ed never really left as creditor after creditor files for their share of the nonexistent McMahon fortune. Donald Trump piped up, mainly to keep his name in the news, offering to bail out America's most famous participants in the housing crisis. Good for them, we should all be so lucky.
Ernest Borgnine was also in the news, the YouTube universe, by spilling the beans as to some of his more private personal habits on Fox News. Funny thing is I don't think Ernie cares one way or the other. Perhaps that's the big difference between the two; while Ed was living for the fishbowl, trying to keep up appearances, the Borgnines were just living, filling every minute with as much fun as possible.
Like everything, there's a lesson in there someplace.
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