familiar with the South Pacific and is especially knowledgeable about the islands and natives around Taratupa, which often helps him in combat situations and makes him a favorite with the admirals (Borgnine actually served in the U.S. Navy both before and during World War II from 1935-1945). Like his crew, he is unmilitary in many ways, but always a strong and competent leader who is very protective of his crew. Also like his crew, McHale likes to wear Hawaiian-style clothing when off duty and to use the PT-73 to go deep-sea fishing and water skiing. As Gruber says in the 1964 film, "That's no officer, that's our skipper". Gruff but lovable, he often calls his crew "schlockmeisters" and goofballs. He is called "Skip" by his crew. Although he very often bellows at them and tries to put his foot down, he loves his crew too much to be all that hard on them. McHale's catchphrases are "Knock it off, you eight-balls" and when trying to come up with an excuse, a rapid "Well-a, well-a, well-a." He speaks Japanese, Italian and local island dialects. In the 1964 film, he briefly speaks fluent French. When the crew is in Italy, McHale's knowledge of Italian serves him quite well and his mother is Italian (both of Borgnine's parents were from Italy). In a dual role, Borgnine played his lookalike Italian cousin, Giuseppe, who does not speak English in "Giuseppe McHale" and "The Return of Giuseppe." Ensign Parker Ensign Charles Beaumont Parker (Tim Conway)-McHale's likable, but goofy second-in-command, he is referred to by McHale as "Chuck" and by the crew as "Mister Parker" (in the U.S. Navy, officers ranking from warrant officer to lieutenant commander who are not in command are often referred to as "Mister"). Conway's bashful, unassertive, naïve, mildly gung-ho bungler often succeeds in spite of clownish ineptitude (a theme that was career-defining). Like Conway, Ensign Parker is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Parker was born between about 1916 and 1920 and worked for the Chagrin Falls Gazette. Although he tries to be military, he is too dimwitted to command too much respect and many of the episodes involve Parker getting into trouble because of his bumbling and ineptitude such as accidentally firing depth charges or shooting down Allied aircraft. Even before becoming a member of McHale's crew, Ensign Parker's personnel file is a laundry list of major foul-ups, including crashing a destroyer