Ernest Borgnine's ageing secret: Self-pollination

By April MacIntyre Aug 14, 2008, 16:10 GMT

05/20/2008 - Ernest Borgnine - Mojo masturbator...36th Annual FIFI Awards - Arrivals - Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue - New York City, NY, USA © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

Fox TV news chat show "Fox & Friends" got more than they bargained for this morning.

Their special guest was Connecticut native Ernest Borgnine, 91, a longtime actor of smallscreen and film, and a child of Italian immigrants. 

Ernie starred in the "Poseidon Adventure", the TV series "McHale's Navy" and won the Best Actor Oscar and Golden Globe award in 1956 for his performance in "Marty." 

During an ABC News Radio interview, Ernie recalled his navy days when they used to eat Chinese food and go to a whorehouse once a month, for just 2 bucks.

“Listen, I was an ordinary fella, y”know . . . but in those days you only paid two dollars," the New York Post quoted him saying.

When pressed to reveal what he spent his money on, Ernie shared, “Oh, for the whorehouses. But first of all, we”d go get a bowl of Chinese, y”know, shrimp, shrimp and fried rice that was my favorite . . .

It’’s one of those things that men have to do and, uh, and in those days I wasn”t responsible to anybody, except myself and to the Navy of course,” Borgnine added.

Ernie was also once married to the legendary singer Ethel Merman.  Borgnine recalled their unhappy union in another past interview. "And after 32 days I said to her, 'Madam, bye.'"  Borgnine wed a third time, but Merman remained single afterwards and in her 1978 biography, she devoted a chapter of her memoir to their marriage: One blank page.

Borgnine was booked on Fox & Friends, and they asked him how he managed to be so vital and look so young.

An enervated Ernie giggled and whispered his longevity secret it to the Fox host Steve Doozy, seated next to him.

Ernie whispered, loudly, "I masturbate a lot."

Have a gander: