
Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. His parents were Charles who had emigrated from Ottiglio (AL), Italy and Anna who had emigrated from Carpi (MO), Italy. As an only child, Ernest enjoyed most sports, especially boxing, but took no real interest in acting. At age 18, after graduating from high school in New Haven, and undecided about his future career, he joined the United States Navy, where he stayed for ten years until leaving in 1945. After a few factory jobs, his mother suggested that his forceful personality could make him suitable for a career in acting, and Borgnine promptly enrolled at the Randall School of Drama in Hartford. After completing the course, he joined Robert Porterfield's famous Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, staying there for four years, undertaking odd jobs and playing every type of role imaginable. His big break came in 1949, when he made his acting debut on Broadway playing a male nurse in "Harvey". In 1951, Borgnine moved to Los Angeles to pursue a movie career, and made his film debut as Bill Street in The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951). His career took off in 1953 when he was cast in the role of Sergeant "Fatso" Judson in From Here to Eternity (1953). This memorable performance led to numerous supporting roles as "heavies" in a steady string of dramas and westerns. He played against type in 1955 by securing the lead role of Marty Piletti, a shy and sensitive butcher, in Marty (1955). He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, despite strong competition from Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, James Dean and James Cagney. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Borgnine performed memorably in such films as The Catered Affair (1956), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and Emperor of the North (1973). Between 1962 and 1966, he played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale in the popular television series McHale's Navy (1962). In early 1984, he returned to television as Dominic Santini in the action series Airwolf (1984) co-starring Jan-Michael Vincent, and in 1995, he was cast in the comedy series The Single Guy (1995) as doorman Manny Cordoba. He also appeared in several made-for-TV movies. Ernest Borgnine passed away aged 95 on July 8, 2012, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, of renal failure. He is survived by his wife Tova, their children and his younger sister Evelyn.
Movie | The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez | Rex Page | 2012-04-27 |
Movie | Snatched | Big Frank Baum | 2011-01-01 |
Movie | Night Club | Albert | 2011-04-11 |
Movie | The Lion of Judah | Slink (voice) | 2011-06-03 |
Movie | Love's Christmas Journey | Nicholas | 2011-11-05 |
Movie | The Wishing Well | Big Jim | 2010-01-09 |
Movie | The Genesis Code | Carl Taylor | 2010-08-25 |
Movie | RED | Henry | 2010-10-13 |
Movie | Another Harvest Moon | Frank | 2010-10-06 |
Movie | Strange Wilderness | Milas | 2008-02-01 |
Movie | Frozen Stupid | Frank Norgard | 2008-08-01 |
Movie | Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project | Himself | 2007-10-13 |
Movie | A Grandpa for Christmas | Bert O'Riley | 2007-11-24 |
Movie | Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen' | Himself | 2006-01-01 |
Movie | La cura del gorilla | Jerry | 2006-02-02 |
Movie | 3 Below | Grandpa | 2005-01-10 |
Movie | The Trail to Hope Rose | Eugene | 2004-01-01 |
Movie | Blueberry | Rolling Star | 2004-02-09 |
Movie | Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King | Himself | 2003-01-01 |
Movie | The Long Ride Home | Lucas Moat | 2003-03-27 |
Movie | The Kiss Of Debt | Godfather Mariano | 2000-01-01 |
Movie | The Last Great Ride | Franklin Lyle | 1999-01-01 |
Movie | BASEketball | Ted Denslow | 1998-07-28 |
Movie | Small Soldiers | Kip Killagin | 1998-07-10 |
Movie | Everyone Loves Mel | Grandpa | 1998-10-10 |
Movie | An All Dogs Christmas Carol | Carface | 1998-11-17 |
Movie | McHale's Navy | Admiral Quinton McHale Sr. | 1997-04-18 |
Movie | Gattaca | Caesar | 1997-09-07 |
Movie | All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 | Carface (voice) | 1996-03-29 |
Series | All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series | 1996-09-21 | |
Movie | Captiva Island | Arty | 1995-01-01 |
Series | The Single Guy | 1995-09-21 | |
Movie | Veterinarian Christine II: The Temptation | Dr. Gustav Gruber | 1995-10-12 |
Movie | Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart | 1994-01-01 | |
Movie | Der blaue Diamant | Hans Kroger | 1993-01-01 |
Movie | Veterinarian Christine | Dr. Gustav Gruber | 1993-11-21 |
Movie | Mistress | Himself | 1992-07-24 |
Movie | Tides of War | Doctor | 1990-01-01 |
Movie | The Last Match | Coach | 1990-02-01 |
Movie | Any Man's Death | Herr Gantz | 1990-05-10 |
Movie | Hoodwinked | Sal Piccolo | 1989-01-01 |
Movie | Real Men Don't Eat Gummi Bears | Bischof | 1989-08-17 |
Series | Oceano | Pedro El Triste | 1989-08-20 |
Movie | Laser Mission | Prof. Braun | 1989-11-01 |
Movie | The Big Turnaround | Father Lopez | 1988-01-01 |
Movie | Moving Target | Captain Morrison | 1988-01-01 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission | Gen. Sam Worden | 1988-02-14 |
Movie | Spike of Bensonhurst | Baldo Cacetti | 1988-11-11 |
Movie | Bloodfight | Victor | 1988-07-08 |
Movie | Skeleton Coast | Colonel Smith | 1988-04-14 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission | Gen. Sam Worden | 1987-03-01 |
Series | Treasure Island in Outer Space | Billy Bones | 1987-11-19 |
Movie | The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | 1986-03-09 | |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission | Gen. Worden | 1985-02-04 |
Movie | Airwolf: The Movie | Dominic Santini | 1984-01-22 |
Series | Airwolf | Dominic « Dom » Santini | 1984-01-22 |
Series | The Last Days of Pompeii | Marcus | 1984-05-06 |
Movie | The Manhunt | Ben Robeson | 1984-12-09 |
Movie | Code Name: Wild Geese | Frank Fletcher | 1984-10-05 |
Movie | Love Leads the Way: A True Story | Sen. Brighton | 1984-10-07 |
Movie | Young Warriors | Lt. Bob Carrigan | 1983-08-28 |
Movie | Carpool | Mickey Doyle | 1983-10-05 |
Movie | Deadly Blessing | Isaiah Schmidt | 1981-08-14 |
Movie | When Time Ran Out... | Det. Sgt. Tom Conti | 1980-03-28 |
Movie | Super Fuzz | Willy Dunlop | 1980-09-18 |
Movie | The Double McGuffin | Firat | 1979-06-01 |
Movie | Ravagers | Rann | 1979-05-01 |
Movie | All Quiet on the Western Front | Stanislaus Katczinsky | 1979-11-14 |
Movie | The Black Hole | Harry Booth | 1979-12-18 |
Movie | The Ghost of Flight 401 | Dom Cimoli | 1978-02-18 |
Movie | Convoy | Sheriff Lyle 'Cottonmouth' Wallace | 1978-06-27 |
Series | Jesus of Nazareth | The Centurion | 1977-01-06 |
Movie | Fire! | Sam Brisbane | 1977-05-08 |
Movie | The Greatest | Angelo Dundee | 1977-05-17 |
Movie | The Prince and the Pauper | John Canty | 1977-06-03 |
Movie | Future Cop | 1976-05-01 | |
Movie | Holiday Hookers | Max | 1976-01-01 |
Movie | Shoot | Lou | 1976-05-28 |
Movie | The Devil's Rain | Jonathan Corbis | 1975-07-01 |
Movie | Hustle | Santuro | 1975-12-25 |
Movie | Law and Disorder | Cy | 1974-10-09 |
Movie | Sunday in the Country | Adam Smith | 1974-11-22 |
Movie | Legend in Granite | Vince Lombardi | 1973-12-14 |
Movie | Emperor of the North | Shack | 1973-05-23 |
Movie | The Neptune Factor | Chief Diver Don MacKay | 1973-08-03 |
Movie | The Boxer | Captain Perkins | 1972-02-02 |
Movie | The Revengers | Hoop | 1972-06-21 |
Movie | Willard | Al Martin | 1971-07-30 |
Movie | Rain for a Dusty Summer | The General | 1971-01-01 |
Movie | Bunny O'Hare | Bill Green - Gruenwald | 1971-10-18 |
Movie | The Trackers | Sam Paxton | 1971-12-15 |
Movie | Hannie Caulder | Emmett Clemens | 1971-11-08 |
Movie | The Adventurers | Fat Cat | 1970-03-25 |
Movie | Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? | Sheriff Harve | 1970-09-11 |
Movie | The Wild Bunch | Dutch Engstrom | 1969-06-17 |
Movie | A Bullet for Sandoval | Don Pedro Sandoval | 1969-08-19 |
Movie | The Legend of Lylah Clare | Barney Sheean | 1968-08-21 |
Movie | The Split | Bert Clinger | 1968-11-04 |
Movie | Ice Station Zebra | Boris Vaslov | 1968-10-23 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen | Maj. Gen. Worden | 1967-06-15 |
Movie | Chuka | Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach | 1967-07-23 |
Movie | The Oscar | Barney Yale | 1966-03-04 |
Movie | The Flight of the Phoenix | Trucker Cobb | 1965-12-15 |
Movie | Go Naked In The World | Pete Stratton | 1961-03-10 |
Movie | Black City | Peppino Navarra | 1961-09-16 |
Movie | Seduction Of The South | Sante Carbone | 1961-12-16 |
Movie | The Last Judgment | Pickpocket | 1961-10-26 |
Movie | Barabbas | Lucius | 1961-12-23 |
Movie | Man on a String | Boris Mitrov | 1960-05-20 |
Movie | Pay or Die! | Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino | 1960-07-27 |
Movie | The Rabbit Trap | Eddie Colt | 1959-06-01 |
Movie | The Badlanders | John McBain | 1958-09-03 |
Movie | The Vikings | Ragnar | 1958-06-28 |
Movie | Torpedo Run | Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan | 1958-10-24 |
Movie | Jubal | Shep Horgan | 1956-04-06 |
Movie | The Catered Affair | Tom Hurley | 1956-06-14 |
Movie | The Best Things In Life Are Free | Lew Brown | 1956-09-28 |
Movie | Three Brave Men | Bernard F. Goldsmith | 1956-12-01 |
Movie | Marty | Marty Piletti | 1955-04-11 |
Movie | Violent Saturday | Stadt, Amish Farmer | 1955-04-01 |
Movie | Run for Cover | Morgan | 1955-04-29 |
Movie | Demetrius and the Gladiators | Strabo | 1954-06-16 |
Movie | The Bounty Hunter | Bill Rachin | 1954-09-25 |
Movie | Vera Cruz | Donnegan | 1954-12-25 |
Movie | The Stranger Wore a Gun | Bull Slager | 1953-07-30 |
Movie | From Here to Eternity | Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson | 1953-08-28 |
Movie | China Corsair | Hu Chang | 1951-06-12 |
Movie | The Whistle at Eaton Falls | Bill Street | 1951-08-02 |
Movie | The Mob | Joe Castro | 1951-09-07 |
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