Best Gun Handling Actors: Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine passed this week. He reached the age of 95. It’s amazing to think that in 2012, a man was alive who joined the U.S. Navy in 1935! Ernest joined in 1935 and rejoined after the Pearl Harbor sneak attack (yes that’s what it was) think about that before you buy a Japanese car. He spent the war on anti-submarine patrol duty and training.

Ernest Borgnine obviously learned to handle weapons in the Navy and he translated this skill to the big screen. Ernest was very convincing with any weapon he touched. Movies like “The Wild Bunch” made Ernest a screen legend. I also remember Ernest as the likable LT CMDR Quinton McHale in McHale’s’ Navy in the 1960s. One of his most famous lines comes from his academy award winning performance in “Marty”. “Whatever women want, I ain’t got!” Well, whatever screen legends needed, Ernest had.