Among the many accolade’s taking note of the passing of actor/director Mel Ferrer, while they all mention his marriage to Audry Hepburn, none pay due homage to his appearance in what is unarguably, indisputably, without a doubt one of the worst movies ever made - “The Norseman,” which was shot right here in Tampa back in 1978.

Irony abounds! Almost all of the obituaries detailing Ferrer’s passing at 90 earlier this week repeatedly cite the late actor’s long standing distaste for - acting.

“I curl up and freeze when I have to act,” Ferrer once told an interviewer. And if anything would have induced the mother of all fetal positions, it most certainly would have been finding oneself cast in “The Norseman,” a Charles B. Pierce production, who was to directing what the Myanmar government is to emergency management.

“The Norseman” starred Lee Majors, then at the height of his “Six Million Dollar Man” fame, as Thorvald, a Viking warrior. The movie also featured, in addition to Mel Ferrer’s Viking King Eurich such screen luminaries, Cornel Wilde and Jack Elam, whom this scribbler had the privilege to share several cocktails with during filming.

Aside from the lousy script, the cheesy set design and Majors’ turgid performance, “The Norseman” managed to find even more ways to to become of the worst movies ever made in the history of the medium.

In several beach scenes, one can spot tire tracks in the sand, jet vapor trails in the sky, even an oil tanker sailing off the Gulf of Mexico coast.

As well in one shipboard sequence a Viking sailor can be seen wearing a - watch.

Despite his public dismissiveness toward acting Ferrer remained very much in demand in front of the camera well into his senior years.

There was no rational reason for to accept a role in what was obviously going to be such a cinematic disaster - unless, of course, perhaps an alimony payment was over due.

But there he was nonetheless, Hepburn’s former husband, a man who had appeared in “Scaramouche.” “Lili,” “War and Peace” and produced “Wait Until Dark,” talking stage directions from Charles B. Pierce, to whom a camera was a weapon of mass embarrassment.

From time to time “The Norseman” shows up late at night on cable television. If you are a glutton for punishment, or perhaps regard yourself as something of an aficionado of the truly horrible, bad, very bad movie - this is your cup of tea.

And try not to think too badly of Ferrer, Wilde and Elam. Obviously they made this movie hoping no one would notice and judging from the box office receipts, they weren’t too far off the mark.