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Ernest Borgnine

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Ernest Borgnine
File:Ernest Borgnine Navy 2.jpg
Ernest Borgnine shows off his new Chief Petty Officer cover at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C October 15, 2004

Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino January 24, 1917[1][2] ) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. He is the son of Carlo Borgnino and Anna Boselli, who immigrated to the U.S. from Modena, Italy. Borgnine is also a veteran of World War II. He joined the United States Navy after high school and served for ten years.

Acting career

After a few years of drifting, Borgnine attended the Randall School of Drama in Hartford, Connecticut. Following graduation, he went to the famous Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. In 1949, he debuted on Broadway in the role of a male nurse in the hit play Harvey.

In 1951, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he received his big break in From Here to Eternity (1953), playing the memorable character of the cruel Sgt "Fatso" Judson, who taunted and killed "Maggio." The part of Maggio was played by Frank Sinatra.

He built a reputation of a dependable character actor and appeared in such films as Johnny Guitar (1954) and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).

In 1955, Borgnine starred in the film version of the television play Marty, which gained him an Academy Award for Best Actor. He subsequently appeared in many movies, sometimes in lead roles, but more often as a supporting major star.

Later film roles include The Vikings (1958); The Flight of the Phoenix (1965); The Dirty Dozen (1967); The Wild Bunch (1969) and The Black Hole (1979).

From 1962 through 1966, he starred in the popular situation comedy television series McHale's Navy, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, in 1963. Borgnine later starred in the 1964 film version of the series.

Borgnine's later television work included a co-starring role (with Jan-Michael Vincent) as veteran helicopter pilot Dominic Santini in the action/espionage series Airwolf. The series lasted from 1984 to 1986.

He was the first center square in the original version of the television game show Hollywood Squares, with host Peter Marshall.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ernest Borgnine has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6324 Hollywood Blvd. In 1996, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Also in 1996, Borgnine toured the U.S. in a bus to meet his fans and see the country. The trip was the subject of a 1997 documentary, Ernest Borgnine on the Bus. He also served one year as the Chairman of the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, visiting patients in Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Since 1999, Borgnine has provided his voice talent to the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants as the elderly superhero Mermaid Man (where he is once again paired up with his McHale's Navy co-star, Tim Conway, who voices Mermaid Man's sidekick Barnacle Boy). Borgnine has also appeared on an episode of The Simpsons as himself. He has also recently appeared in television commercials.

He holds the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite of Masonry and has long been active in the Craft and is a member of the Shriners. He is also a recipient of the Grand Cross, which is the highest honor for service to the Scottish Rite.

Personal life

Borgnine has married five times. His first marriage was to Rhoda Kemins, whom he met while serving in the navy[3]; they were married in 1948. They had one daughter (Gina) together. After the marriage ended in 1959 Borgnine then married Katy Jardo, but they divorced in 1963. His 1964 marriage to Ethel Merman lasted barely over a month. He then married Donna Rancourt, with whom he had a son (Christopher) and a daughter (Diana). The marriage ended in 1972. That same year, Borgnine married Tova Traesnaes, his fifth and as of 2006 current wife.

Filmography

File:Borgnine as marty.jpg
Ernest Borgnine won an Academy Award for Marty (1955).
File:Emperor climactic scene.jpg
Borgnine (right) and Lee Marvin in Emperor of the North Pole (1973).
Ernest Borgnine applauds after a performance by the U.S. Navy Band at a special concert celebrating the 231st Birthday of the U.S. Navy at DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C., October 14, 2006

TV Work

File:AirwolfDVD.jpg
Borgnine (bottom left) along with Jan-Michael Vincent (right), and Alex Cord (top left) in Airwolf (1984).
File:Singleguy2.jpg
Borgnine (top right) in The Single Guy (1995).

Quotes

Spencer Tracy was the first actor I've seen who could just look down into the dirt and command a scene. He played a set-up with Robert Ryan that way. He's looking down at the road and then he looks at Ryan at just the precise, right minute. I tell you, Rob could've stood on his head and zipped open his fly and the scene would've still been Mr Tracy's.

The trick is not to become somebody else. You become somebody else when you're in front of a camera or when you're on stage. There are some people who carry it all the time. That, to me, is not acting. What you've gotta do is find out what the writer wrote about and put it into your mind. This is acting. Not going out and researching what the writer has already written. This is crazy!

Everything I do has a moral to it. Yes, I've been in films that have had shootings. I made The Wild Bunch (1969), which was the beginning of the splattering of blood and everything else. But there was a moral behind it. The moral was that, by golly, bad guys got it. That was it. Yeah.

Ever since they opened the floodgates with Clark Gable saying, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn,' somebody's ears pricked up and said, 'Oh boy, here we go!'. Writers used to make such wonderful pictures without all that swearing, all that cursing. And now it seems that you can't say three words without cursing. And I don't think that's right.

References

  1. ^ "Ernest Borgnine." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, 4th ed. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006: "Born: Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, Connecticut, 24 January 1917 (some sources say 1915 or 1918)."
  2. ^ Clooney, Nick (2003). The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743410440., p. 114
  3. ^ M. A. Schmidt (April 10, 1955). "Ernest Borgnine: Fiendish 'Fatso' to Meek 'Marty'". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
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Preceded by Academy Award for Best Actor
1955
for Marty 		Succeeded by
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