Ernest Borgnine

Overview

Born
January 24, 1917 · Hamden, Connecticut, USA
Died
July 8, 2012 · Los Angeles, California, USA (renal failure)
Birth name
Ermes Effron Borgnino
Nickname
- Ernie
Height
5′ 10¾″ (1.80 m)

Biography

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

The role of Mermaid Man in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999).
Frequently played villainous roles.
Gruff, but gentle voice.
Machiavellian eyebrows.
Gap between his two front teeth.

Trivia

While resting between takes in his dressing room during the filming of Three Brave Men (1956) on the 20th Century-Fox lot, he received a visit from Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, presenting him with an armful of Elvis records. Elvis had heard of Borgnine defending his singing while making his acting debut in Love Me Tender (1956), also filming on another soundstage on the lot--Elvis had sent the records over in appreciation but was too shy to present them himself, never getting past the dressing room door. Borgnine said, "Well, we'll have to do something about that", telling Parker to make sure Elvis stopped by the following day. When Elvis eventually did come by, he could hear his record "Hound Dog" blaring out from the room and painted on the dressing room door were the words "Elvis Borgnine".
In 2007, he became the first male Oscar winner for Best Actor to still be alive on his 90th birthday, and in 2012, became the first male Oscar winner for Best Actor to still be alive (and working) on his 95th birthday.
While on location in Mexico filming Vera Cruz (1954), he and fellow cast member Charles Bronson found themselves with some extra time on their hands and decided to go to the nearest town to get some cigarettes. Still in full costume--including bandoliers and pistols--they mounted their horses and headed out. Along the way, they were spotted by a truckful of Mexican "federales"--federal police--who mistook them for bandits and held them at gunpoint until their identities could be verified.
In a video interview on the Screen Actors Guild website, in association with his 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, he was asked by members of Facebook what actor he would have loved to have worked with but hadn't until that time. He mentioned only one: Peter O'Toole, stating he'd been friends with him for years and that O'Toole had a wonderful attitude he'd always admired. On July 10, 2012, two days after Borgnine's death, O'Toole announced his retirement from acting.
Was physically healthy and active until his death at age 95.

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 [in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)]. 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.
[on Brokeback Mountain (2005)] I didn't see it and I don't care to see it . . . If John Wayne were alive, he'd be rolling over in his grave.