In the late Sixties and early Seventies, on what
seemed never-running reruns at the time but are much harder to find now, the
sitcom McHale’s Navy poked lighthearted fun at the often-deadly business
of fighting World War II.
Much like other military service comedies of the era such as Sgt. Bilko and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.—and in stark contrast to the
later M*A*S*H—it was only mildly anti-authority, with much of the humor
directed not at the top U.S. naval brass so much as at a middle manager: bespectacled,
by-the-book, beleaguered Captain Binghamton.
Character actor Joe Flynn, who perfected a snarl
in front of the cameras that was nothing like his warm offscreen personality,
was born 100 years ago today in Youngstown, Ohio—and, whenever possible, the
show’s writers dropped references to his hometown into their scripts.
An even more constant feature of the show’s 138
episodes in which Flynn appeared was the quote above—a signature line as
characteristic and inevitable as Jimmie Walker’s “"Dyn-o-mite!" on Good
Times or Peter Falk’s “Just one more thing…” on Columbo.
Poor Binghamton: It was bad enough that a war wound in
his backside earned him the nickname "Old Leadbottom," or that he was
allergic to goldenrods. He also had to put up with what he waspishly termed the
“gang of pirates” of PT-73, who always foiled his inept attempts at harsh
discipline.
Forget about Albert Camus with his myth of Sisyphus,
or Job railing against God. Binghamton was the person who taught millions of
baby boomers about an unfair universe—and all they could do was laugh at his
predicament.
Life was ultimately unfair to Joe Flynn, too. Unlike
other cast members of McHale’s Navy who lived into their 80s and 90s like
Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Carl Ballantine, Bob Hastings, and Gavin Macleod, Flynn
died when he was only 49. He had suffered a heart attack and was found at the
bottom of his swimming pool, weighed down by a cast on his broken leg.
Well, while he was alive he enjoyed favor from casting
directors. Though typecast by his short stature
and great near-sightedness (during indoor shooting, he did without lenses in
his thick glasses to minimize glare from lighting), he made the most of his
opportunities, claiming to have acted in more Disney films (13) than anyone
else in the history of the company, and appearing even more often as a guest on
Merv Griffin’s talk show (52).
He also maintained warm friendships with other actors, notably Conway, with whom he co-starred in another (short-lived) sitcom several years after McHale's Navy went off the air.
A fine summary of Flynn’s life and career can be found
in this December 2020 post on the blog “Silver Scenes.”
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