Goodbye, Marty

Whenever I think of Ernest Borgnine, I picture him in Marty. I first saw the film when I was quite young, and that portrayal opened doors for me that stayed open the rest of my life.

Marty was the loser who ends up winning by being himself. He overcomes his own fear and the limiting ministrations of his mother and  lays it out there for his beloved, offering no apology for being who he is. I can’t imagine any other actor then or since who would have brought to that role the particular timbre that made it so real for me.

I haven’t always been the most self-confident person. Certainly, there are times in my life when I wish I’d just taken that moment of insane courage as did Marty. Looking at his record of five marriages, I have to wonder if Borgnine himself didn’t struggle with many of the same fears. But in the end, he took this great part and made it real for all of us.

If he’d done nothing else in his career, this one would have validated him as an actor.

I wish I had a way to thank him.