RIP Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine, the beefy screen star known for
blustery, often villainous roles, but who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing
against type as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday.
He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated
Press that Borgnine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his family by his
side.

He did not have the face, or the smile, of a classic
movie star. But Borgnine certainly had the heart of one, whether in a drama,
such as "Marty," or a comedy, like the 1960s sitcom "McHale's
Navy."

Ermes Effron Borgnino was born in 1917, the son of
Italian immigrants. He lived in Italy for a while as a child, then came back to
the United States, where he joined the U.S. Navy, serving throughout World War
II.

When the war ended, Borgnine tried his hand at a few
things, until his mother suggested he try acting.

He caught on fairly quickly, appearing on Broadway and
some early television roles.

Then, Borgnine's first big role, as the bully Fatso
Judson in the movie "From Here to Eternity."

A character actor, a "heavy," was born . . .

. . . Until an unexpectedly gentle role came up in 1955,
with a winning performance. The role of "Marty," a sweet-natured Everyman,
living with his mother, trying to find love, won Borgnine the Academy Award:

"I just want to thank my mother for giving me the
idea to get into this wonderful profession," he said, accepting the Oscar.

His next big triumph came when art imitated life, joining
the Navy again as Lieutenant Commander Quentin McHale in the TV show
"McHale's Navy."

After that, a string of action movies, from "The
Dirty Dozen" to "The Poseidon Adventure."

Younger viewers might know him more as the voice of
Mermaid Man in "Spongebob Squarepants."

Borgnine's biggest kick, however, was going out and
meeting people - even making a documentary about himself driving around the
country in a big bus: "See, this is what it's all about - living!"

Ernest Borgnine knew what it was all about.

BORGNINE, Ernest (Ermes Effron Borgnino)
Born: 1/24/1917, Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Died: 7/8/2012, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

Ernest Borgnine's westerns - actor:
The Stranger Wore a Gun – 1953 (Bull Slager)
Johnny Guitar – 1954 (Bart Lonergan)
The Bounty Hunter – 1954 (Bill Rachin)
Vera Cruz - 1954 (Donnegan)
The Last Command -1955 (Mike Radin)
Run for Cover - 1955 (Morgan)
Bad Day at Black Rock – 1955 (Coley Trimble)
Jubal – 1956 (Shep Horgan)
Wagon Train (TV) – 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1965 (Willy
Moran, Estaban Zamora, Earl Packer, Indian)
Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1957, 1960 (Big Jim Morrison,
Willie)
The Badlanders – 1958 (John 'Mac' McBain)
Laramie (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Major Prescott, Boone Caudie)
Chucka – 1967 (Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach)
A Bullet for Sandoval - 1969 (Don Pedro Sandoval)
Guns of the Revolution - 1969 (‘The General’)
Hannie Caulder - 1970 (Emmett Clemens)
Sam Hill: Who Killed Mr. Foster? (TV) – 1971 (Deputy Sam
Hill)
The Trackers – 1971 (Sam Paxton)
The Revengers – 1972 (Hoop)
Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1974 (Jonathan)
Manhunt – 1984 (Ben Robeson)
Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart – 1994
Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 2000 (Eddie Ryan)
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King (TV) – 2003
(himself)
Renegade – 2004 (Rolling Star)
The Trail to Hope Rose (TV) – 2004 (Eugene)
Aces ‘N’ Eights (TV) – 2008 (Thurmond Prescott)
I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell – 2008 (Judge Holliday)
The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez - 2012 (Rex
Page)