Disney’s Naval Academy
From October 11th, 1962 to April 12th, 1966, the ABC Network aired the sitcom McHale’s Navy. The series featured the misadventures of a Patrol Torpedo Boat crew during World War II. The series received a total of five Emmy Nominations during its run on ABC and spawned the creation of three theatrical films, including McHale’s Navy (1964), McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965), and McHale’s Navy (1997). Did you know that several of the regular cast members of that show have connections to the Walt Disney Studios?
Ernest Borgnine who portrayed Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale on “McHale’s Navy,” received an Emmy Nomination for Best Actor for his performance as McHale in the first season. Before “McHale’s Navy,” was picked up as a series, Borgnine portrayed McHale opposite Tim Conway and Joe Flynn in a one-hour anthology drama series entitled Seven Against the Sea which aired as an episode of the series Alcoa Premiere (1961-1963) a series hosted by Fred Astaire. In “Seven Against the Sea,” Tim Conway and Joe Flynn also originated their roles from “McHale’s Navy.” Borgnine reprised his role as Lt. Cmdr. McHale for McHale’s Navy (1964) and appeared in the role of Cobra in McHale’s Navy (1997). For the Walt Disney Studios, Borgnine acted in the film The Black Hole (1979). Borgnine also lent his voice to the Nickelodeon Animated Series SpongeBob SqaurePants (1999-present) as SpongeBob’s favorite superhero, Mermaid Man.
Tim Conway, who played the role of Ensign Charles Parker on “McHale’s Navy,” received on Emmy Nomination for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Parker in the first season as well. Conway reprised that role for McHale’s Navy (1964) and McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). For Disney, Conway starred as Amos Tucker opposite Don Knotts as Theodore Ogelvie in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and its sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979). He portrayed Milo Jackson in The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) and Tim in The Shaggy D.A. (1976). Conway took over the role of Sheriff Sniffer from good friend Don Knotts in the Disney direct-to-video series Air Buddies (2006-present): (spin-off of the movie Air Bud (1997)), and voiced Mr. Peterson in the Disney Channel Original Series, The Proud Family (2001-2005). Like Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway also lent his voice to “SpongeBob SquarePants,” as SpongeBob’s other favorite superhero, Barnacle Boy. In addition, Conway voiced to the seagull in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015).
Joe Flynn played Captain Wallace B. Binghamton on “McHale’s Navy.” Like Borgnine and Conway, Flynn reprised his role as Captain Binghamton in McHale’s Navy (1964) and McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). Flynn made his Disney debut as Rex Williams and a TV Commercial announcer in Son of Flubber (1963), the sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). He played Havershaw in The Love Bug (1968) and P.J. Applegate in the Disney television series Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in 1969. The same year as “Wonderful World of Color,” Flynn landed the role of Dean Higgins in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), a role that he reprised for its two sequels, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972) and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). In between those films, Flynn played Francis X. Wilbanks in The Barefoot Executive (1971), which reunited him with Kurt Russell from “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” trilogy, and Finley Hooper in The Million Dollar Duck (1971), which reunited him with Dean Jones from “The Love Bug.” Flynn reunited with Kurt Russell for a 5th time in the Disney film Superdad (1973) where he played the role of Cyrus Hershberger and provided the voice of Mr. Snoops in The Rescuers (1977) before his untimely death of a drowning accident at the age of 49 on July 19th, 1974.
Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, and Joe Flynn were all best known for their roles on “McHale’s Navy.” Each, however, had a unique sense of humor, which served as an asset to their work for the Walt Disney Studios. These three actors maintained close friendships until Joe Flynn’s death and Ernest Borgnine’s death on July 8th, 2012 at the age of 95.
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