He had a nice film career going before and after McHale but why did he do it in the 1st place? Usually film stars back then kind of looked down on TV. Did he own a piece of the show?
"No! That’s not true at all. Elvis takes fifty percent of everything I earn." Col. Parker
Mr. Borgnine tells the story about a kid coming to his door one day selling candy bars or something and the kid didn't know who he was. However the kid did know some of the popular TV stars of the day (like Richard Boone) so Borgnine had a change of heart and decided to do the show (after he initially turned it down.)
shareErnie played MacHale (spelling not a typo) in 1962's "Seven Against the Sea", the Alcoa Theater show that preceded McHale's Navy and had the same premise, although treated it more seriously. He was obviously the right choice to pay McHale in the TV version and he agreed.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0507732/reference
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I'm just a patsy!
Ha! Made you look!!