August 25, 2007
Gloria Steinem and I are surveying the view of the bay as boats glide in and out of the harbor. We are weekend guests at the Bronx Summer home of Ernest and Tova Borgnine.
As we wait for the couple to greet us, I can’t help but notice Ernest’s Oscar and Tony Awards.* I debate whether to risk touching the trophies or not.
As I make my way toward the Tony, Tova and Ernest make their entrance from atop a modest wooden staircase. We barely have a chance to say hello before other guests start to arrive. Apparently the Borgnines are hosting some sort of liberal fundraiser, which is why Gloria has agreed to be there.
I spend several minutes mingling, waiting for the right moment to tell Tova that I remember seeing her on “The Mike Douoglas Show” hawking her cosmetics line when I was a kid. “Oh, don’t say that,” I think. “That’ll make her feel old.”
The Borgnines' son, who apparently is a doctor still dressed in his scrubs, makes his way to a small stage where he is set to help honor Ernest for his humanitarian work.
There are two rather large trophies perched upon two separate podiums. One trophy is round and sphere like and boasts an oversized Tony insignia, the masks of comedy and tragedy. The other trophy, from Actor’s Equity, is called the King Lear Award. It features a sculpture of lear sitting on his thrown with a stone wall behind him.
Gloria Steinem and I are surveying the view of the bay as boats glide in and out of the harbor. We are weekend guests at the Bronx Summer home of Ernest and Tova Borgnine.
As we wait for the couple to greet us, I can’t help but notice Ernest’s Oscar and Tony Awards.* I debate whether to risk touching the trophies or not.
As I make my way toward the Tony, Tova and Ernest make their entrance from atop a modest wooden staircase. We barely have a chance to say hello before other guests start to arrive. Apparently the Borgnines are hosting some sort of liberal fundraiser, which is why Gloria has agreed to be there.
I spend several minutes mingling, waiting for the right moment to tell Tova that I remember seeing her on “The Mike Douoglas Show” hawking her cosmetics line when I was a kid. “Oh, don’t say that,” I think. “That’ll make her feel old.”
The Borgnines' son, who apparently is a doctor still dressed in his scrubs, makes his way to a small stage where he is set to help honor Ernest for his humanitarian work.
There are two rather large trophies perched upon two separate podiums. One trophy is round and sphere like and boasts an oversized Tony insignia, the masks of comedy and tragedy. The other trophy, from Actor’s Equity, is called the King Lear Award. It features a sculpture of lear sitting on his thrown with a stone wall behind him.
I see a petite woman I once worked with, an intense young law student who rarely smiled. We chat politely, and then I walk away.
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I don't think he ever won a Tony, but he does have an Oscar.
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