Monday 9 July 2012

Ernest Borgnine: 1917-2012

Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Connecticut to Italian immigrants in 1917. He took theater classes after serving in the Navy during World War II.

Borgnine was known as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity and one of the thugs who menaces Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Block Rock, but he won the best-actor Oscar for playing a lovesick butcher in Marty in 1955. He also played William Holden's right-hand-man in Sam Peckinpah's Western, The Wild Bunch, and Lee Marvin’s commanding officer in The Dirty Dozen.

Television fans loved him as the scheming Navy officer in the sitcom McHale's Navy.

He racked up more than 200 credits in projects ranging from the era of live television drama to the children's cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants.

In addition to his Oscar for Marty, Borgnine was nominated for three Emmys
—the most recent in 2009, for a guest spot on the hospital drama ERand won a life achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2010.

    IMDb    New York Times    Wikipedia   

1 comment:

Kathy said...

I was saddened to learn Ernest Borgnine had died. When I was sightseeing with my family at the Washington Monument, the first time we had ever been in Washington DC, I dug my husband in the ribs and said, "That's Ernest Borgnine!" He said it couldn't be, such a famous actor standing in broad daylight, but it was. A crowd gathered, and he very kindly gave us an autograph. I was thrilled.