Ernest Borgnine

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Ernest Borgnine

Borgnine shows off his new CPO cover at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. on October 15, 2004
Born Ermes Effron Borgnino
January 24, 1917 (1917-01-24) (age 91)
Hamden, Connecticut
Years active 1951 - present
Spouse(s) Rhoda Kemins (1949-1958)
Katy Jurado (1959-1963)
Ethel Merman (1964-1965)
Donna Rancourt (1965-1972)
Tova Borgnine (1973-)

Ermes Effron Borgnino (born January 24, 1917),[1][2] better known by his stage name Ernest Borgnine, is an American Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning actor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, Connecticut, the son of Anna (née Boselli) who immigrated to the U.S. from Carpi, Italy and Charles B. Borgnino, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ottiglio, Italy.[3] His parents divorced when he was two years old and he and his mother went to live in Italy,[4] but five years later they returned to Hamden, Connecticut, where he attended public schools.

[edit] Naval Career

Borgnine joined the United States Navy in 1935 after high school. He was discharged in 1941, but he re-enlisted when the United States entered World War II and served until 1945 (a total of ten years), reaching the rank of Gunner's Mate 1st Class. His military decorations included the American Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, and the World War II Victory Medal.

In 2004, Borgnine received the honorary rank of Chief Petty Officer from the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott — the U.S. Navy's highest ranking enlisted sailor at the time — for Borgnine's support of the Navy and Navy families worldwide.

[edit] 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. His first role was as the Gentleman Caller in Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie". In 1949, he debuted on Broadway in the role of a 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 cruel Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, in charge of the stockade, who taunts fellow soldier Angelo Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra).

Borgnine built a reputation as a dependable character actor and appeared in early film roles as villains, including Johnny Guitar and Bad Day at Black Rock. But in 1955, the actor starred as a warm-hearted butcher in the film version of the television play Marty, which gained him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Because of Borgnine's longevity, Marty currently stands as the oldest film with a Best Actor performance from someone still alive. With the passing of Charlton Heston on April 5, 2008, Borgnine is currently the only living actor who has won Best Actor for performances given prior to 1960.

Later film roles include The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, The Poseidon Adventure and The Black Hole.

Borgnine played Lieutenant Commander Quentin McHale in what began as a serious one hour 1962 television pilot Seven Against the Sea. From 1962 through 1966, the series became a 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 starred in the 1964 film version of the series, and appeared in a cameo performance in the 1997 remake.

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 ran 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 in addition to a number of television commercials. In 2000, he was the executive producer of Hoover, in which he is the only credited actor.

In 2007, 90-year-old Borgnine starred in the Hallmark Original Movie A Grandpa for Christmas. He starred as a grandpa who discovers that, when his estranged daughter is in a car accident, that he has a granddaughter he never knew about. She is taken into his care, and they soon become great friends. For his performance in A Grandpa For Christmas, Borgnine received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television. At 90, he was the oldest Golden Globe nominee ever. He did not win, however.

[edit] Autobiography

Borgnine has completed his autobiography, Ernie, which was published by Citadel Press in July 2008. Ernie is a loose, conversational recollection of highlights from his acting career and notable events from his personal life.

In the wake of the book's publication, he has begun a small promotional tour, visiting independent bookstores in the Los Angeles area to promote the book's release and meet some of his fans.[5]

[edit] Personal life

Borgnine has married five times.

  1. Rhoda Kemins (1949–1958), whom he met while serving in the Navy;[6] They had one daughter, Gina (born August 18, 1952).
  2. The actress Katy Jurado (1959–1963)
  3. The singer Ethel Merman (1964), which lasted barely over a month. (divorce final May 25, 1965)
  4. Donna Rancourt (1965-1972), with whom he had a son, Christopher (born August 9, 1969) and two daughters, Sharon (born August 5, 1965) and Diana (born December 29, 1970).
  5. Tova Traesnaes (February 24, 1973 to date)

He has one sister, Evelyn Velardi (b. 1926).

His mother, Anna Borgnine, died in 1949, after a long battle against tuberculosis, just days before the wedding.

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

Borgnine also had a street named in his honor in his hometown of Hamden, Connecticut, and still retains a large and vocal following in that area.

For 30 years (1972-2002), Borgnine marched in Milwaukee's annual Great Circus Parade as the "Grand Clown".

On August 14, 2008, Borgnine claimed on Fox News that one of his secrets to long live was to "masturbate a lot".[7][8]

[edit] Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Film Result
1955 Academy Award Best Actor Marty Won
BAFTA Award Best Foreign Actor Marty Won
Golden Globe Award Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Marty Won
NBR Award Best Actor Marty Won
NYFCC Award Best Actor Marty Won
1962 Emmy Award Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) McHale's Navy Nominated
1979 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special All Quiet on the Western Front Nominated
1999 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series Nominated
2007 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television A Grandpa for Christmas Nominated

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

[edit] Television

[edit] Quotes

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  • 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.
  • A 91 year old Ernest gives the secret to looking so young during an interview on Fox News, "I don't dare tell you...[whispers] I masturbate a lot."

[edit] See also

United States Navy portal

[edit] 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, January 24, 1917 (some sources say 1915 or 1918)."
  2. ^ Clooney, Nick (2003). The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7434-1044-0. , p. 114
  3. ^ Ernest Borgnine Biography (1917-)
  4. ^ Associated Press, Ernest Borgnine at 90 still wants to act, but people ask, ‘Is he still alive?’, January 24, 2007
  5. ^ "The Importance of Being Ernie". Retrieved on 5 August 2008. 
  6. ^ M. A. Schmidt (April 10, 1955). "Ernest Borgnine: Fiendish 'Fatso' to Meek 'Marty'". New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
  7. ^ Jordan, Katy (August 15, 2008). "Ernest Borgnine, 91, reveals his little secret", Boston Herald. Retrieved on 15 August 2008. 
  8. ^ "Anchors Floored After Mic Picks Up Ernest Borgnine’s Shock Secret to Long Life". Breitbart.tv (August 14, 2008).
  • ""Ernest Borgnine"". Biographies in Navy History. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy (March 8, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-23.

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ernest Borgnine
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Marlon Brando
for On the Waterfront		 NYFCC Award for Best Actor
1955
for Marty		 Succeeded by
Kirk Douglas
for Lust for Life
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Actor

Gary Cooper (1941) · James Cagney (1942) · Paul Lukas (1943) · Bing Crosby (1944) · Ray Milland (1945) · Fredric March (1946) · Ronald Colman (1947) · Laurence Olivier (1948) · Broderick Crawford (1949) · José Ferrer (1950) · Humphrey Bogart (1951) · Gary Cooper (1952) · William Holden (1953) · Marlon Brando (1954) · Ernest Borgnine (1955) · Yul Brynner (1956) · Alec Guinness (1957) · David Niven (1958) · Charlton Heston (1959) · Burt Lancaster (1960)

Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)
Persondata
NAME Borgnine, Ernest
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Borgnino, Ermes Effron
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamden, Connecticut, USA
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Borgnine"
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