People : He’s still McHale and hearty
At a recent cast reunion for the 1960s sitcom “McHale’s Navy,” the actors were appalled at the arrival of their former commandant.
Helped out of his car by the driver, the once-exuberant Ernest Borgnine was stooped over, walking haltingly muttering gibberish.
Tim Conway rushed forward and exclaimed, “Ernie, what has happened to you?”
Suddenly Borgnine straightened up, threw out his massive chest and bellowed, “What’s going on here?” – followed by his signature high-decibel laugh.
As he turns 90 today, Borgnine shows little evidence of aging. His round, pudgy face is little changed. His only concession is abandoning the bus he used to drive around the country, talking with local folks along the way.
He’s preparing for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, but roles have been scarce of late.
“I keep telling myself, ‘Damn it, you gotta go to work,’ ” he says. “But there aren’t many people who want to put Borgnine to work these days. They keep asking, ‘Is he still alive?’ “
Color him humble
“Grey’s Anatomy” star Isaiah Washington has taken his first steps toward making amends to the gay and lesbian community.
He reportedly used an anti-gay slur against castmate T.R. Knight during an on-set dispute in October, and repeated the word during a denial at the Golden Globes last week.
During a meeting Monday with executives from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Washington discussed such options as public-service announcements.
The straight story
Elizabeth Vargas told Oprah Winfrey on Tuesday she wasn’t forced out as co-anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” as some speculated, but decided to step down when she became pregnant with her second child.
“It was becoming difficult to juggle all that, do the job I wanted to do, and to be the mother I wanted to be,” said Vargas, 44, now co-host of the newsmagazine “20/20.”
Premiere performances
Elsewhere on the baby beat, among the actresses expecting their first offspring:
“Keri Russell, 30, former star of TV’s “Felicity,” who’s due this summer.
“Jenna Elfman, 35, who starred in “Dharma & Greg” and has been married for 16 years.
“Sarah Wayne Callies, 29, of Fox’s “Prison Break,” who previously played Jane in the short-lived series “Tarzan.”
Vows of silence
Producer David E. Kelley, who has a new series about wedding planners coming to Fox this spring, had nothing to do with putting together his 1993 nuptials to Michelle Pfeiffer.
“My wife was so worried that the paparazzi would ruin the wedding party that she kept the details of the wedding secret from everyone, including me,” Kelley says. “I remember sitting backstage at the wedding and not knowing exactly what was about to happen.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Ernest Borgnine is 90. Fiddler Doug Kershaw is 71. Singer Ray Stevens is 68. Singer Aaron Neville is 66. Singer Neil Diamond is 66. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 56. Actor Matthew Lillard (“Scooby Doo”) is 37. Actress Tatyana Ali (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) is 28. Actress Mischa Barton (“The O.C.”) is 21.