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RIP Ernest Borgnine


geordi

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I worked on the first season of Airwolf in post, and even in dailies, Borgnine was letter-perfect every time, just the consummate pro. Jan Michael-Vincent, the "star" of the show, had so many problems, I don't think he could do two sentences in a row. They eventually had to loop a lot of his dialog, and came up with a helmet covering up his mouth to help facilitate the ADR.

Borgnine's recent 2009 autobiography, Ernie, goes into some pretty amazing and hair-raising stories. He had a very colorful life, to say the least.

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I day-played on some sit-com years ago. 24 frame video playback.

He was on the show, and I remember him having this amazing custom cast chair. He would sit there welcoming a conversation with anyone who happened by. Loved life. Loved work. My brief encounter was a special moment in my career.

Robert

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That's too bad. I remember him fondly from from my youth as Dominic Santini in "Airwolf". I'll have to look into his more "legit" roles...

What's not legit about being the mechanic and weapons officer of Airwolf? The guy must have been sitting on a number of crates of Hellfire missiles given how many rockets they could fire off. "The Wild Bunch" and "The Dirty Dozen" are two memorable films that pop to mind.

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I only worked one job with Mr. Borgnine, and the end product wasn't all that great, but he was a consummate professional, and a real joy to be around. At the time, he had recently undergone (I think) foot surgery, and it was obviously difficult for him to get around -- he had a cane, and his mobility was definitely limited, but he was able to work that into his character, and was a great example of strength in the face of adversity throughout the production. I'm glad I had the chance to see him work.

~tt

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