Born January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut, Ermes Effron Borgnino, known professionally as Ernest Borgnine, was the son of Italian immigrants. His parents separated when he was two years old, and he spent the next four and a half years liiving in Italy with his mother. His parents then reconciled, moving to New Haven, Connecticut where his younger sister was born in 1924.

A sports kid, Borgnine did not grow up with an interest in acting. He joined the U.S. Navy upon graduation from high school in 1935. He left the Navy in 1945 with no idea what he would do with the rest of life. It was his mother who suggested acting which he then studied in Connecticut and Virginia where he made his stage debut in a production of State of the Union. That was followed by a stint as the gentleman caller in The Glass Menagerie. He made his Broadway debut in 1947 as one of the nurses in Harvey. He married first wife Rhoda Kemins in 1949 with whom he had a daughter.

Borgnine made his film debut in 1951’s The Whistle at Eaton Falls. Two years later he made a major impression as the sadistic Sergeant “Fatso” Judson in From Here to Eternity, followed by more memorable villain roles in such films as Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz, and Bad Day at Black Rock. His change of pace role as the sensitive, warmhearted butcher in 1955’s Marty won him a Best Actor Oscar.

The actor rounded out the decade alternating between villains and sensitive, caring individuals in such varied films as Jubal, The Catered Affair, Three Brave Men, The Vikings, The Badlanders, and Torpedo Run.

Borgnine divorced Rhoda Kemins in 1958 and married actress Katy Jurado in 1959 with whom he was married until 1963. In 1964 he was married briefly to show business legend Ethel Merman. From 1965-1972, he was married to Diana Rancourt with whom he had two more children. In 1975 he married fifth wife, beautician Tova Traesnaes with whom he remain married for the rest of his life.

During the 1960s, Borgnine became a TV star in McHale’s Navy which ran from 1962-1966. His films during this period included Barabbas, The Flight of the Phoenix and The Oscar. They were followed by 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, 1968’s Ice Station Zebra, and 1969’s The Wild Bunch.

1972’s The Poseidon Adventure and 1981’s Escape from New York were his most high profile later films but he never stopped working. He wrote his autobiography at the age of 91. Spending most of his later career on TV, he was nominated three times for an Emmy, the last at 92 for his guest appearance in an episode of ER in 2009. He received a Life Achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2011.

Ernest Borgnine died of kidney failure in 2012 at the age of 95.

ERNEST BORGNINE AND OSCAR

• Marty (1955) – Oscar – Best Actor

ESSENTIAL FILMS

MARTY (1955), directed by Delbert Mann

This was one of only three films to win both Palme d’Or at the Cannes film Festival and the Oscar, the others being The Lost Weekend ten years earlier and Parasite sixty-four years later. Originally a TV production with Rod Steiger, producer Burt Lancaster insisted the public would not want to pay to see an actor they had seen perform the role for free and cast Borgnine, his co-star in From Here to Eternity in the role of a lifetime as the sensitive, warmhearted albeit lonely Bronx butcher opposite Betsy Blair as the equally lonely schoolteacher he meets at a dance. Borgnine won the Oscar for his unforgettable performance.

THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956), directed by Richard Brooks

This was another adaptation of a TV play. Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay from Marty playwright Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Richard Brooks between Blackboard Jungle and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Three of the films four stars were Oscar winners – two-time winner Bette Davis in Thelma Ritter TV role as the mother of the bride, recent winner Ernest Borgnine as her husband, and Barry Fitzgerald as her father. The film’s best reviewed performance, however, was that of Debbie Reynolds, who won a National Board of Review award for her portrayal of the bride.

THE DIRTY DOZEN (1968), directed by Robert Aldrich

Borgnine was second billed to Lee Marvin as Army Major in this box-office hit about a motley crew of convicted murderers brought together by Marvin to conduct a mass assignation of German High Command officers just before D-Day. Borgnine is the General who gives Marvin the assignment, Robert Ryan the West Point trained Colonel who is asked to train the men as paratroopers but not told why. The men include Oscar nominated John Cassavates, along with Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland, and Trini Alvarez. Sutherland’s performance led directly to his star-making casting in M*A*S*H.

THE WILD BUNCH, directed by Sam Peckinpah (1969)

The critics were split on this bloody western about an aging group of outlaws as the old west is disappearing in 1913, but audiences loved it. Contrary to popular belief, Oscar did not ignore it entirely, nominating it for Best Screenplay and Best Score. Peckinpah was one of ten nominees for the Best Director award from the DGA. Borgnine was second billed behind William Holden, although to be fair it was the performances of third and fourth billed Robert Ryan and Edmond O’Brien whose performances were hailed more his. Also providing strong support were Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Strother Martin, and L.Q. Jones.

THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972), directed by Ronald Neame

Borgnine took his usual place as second billed star of this legendary disaster flick. Nominated for 8 Oscars, it won for Best Song, “The Morning After”. It also won a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects. Gene Hackman received top billing in a cast that also included Red Buttons, carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Sella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O’Connell, Eric Shea as fellow passengers, and Leslie Nielson as the ship’s captain. Two-time Oscar winner Shelley Winters received her fourth Oscar nomination and her first and only Golden Globe win for her performance.