
Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. His parents were Charles who had emigrated from Ottiglio (AL), Italy and Anna who had emigrated from Carpi (MO), Italy. As an only child, Ernest enjoyed most sports, especially boxing, but took no real interest in acting. At age 18, after graduating from high school in New Haven, and undecided about his future career, he joined the United States Navy, where he stayed for ten years until leaving in 1945. After a few factory jobs, his mother suggested that his forceful personality could make him suitable for a career in acting, and Borgnine promptly enrolled at the Randall School of Drama in Hartford. After completing the course, he joined Robert Porterfield's famous Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, staying there for four years, undertaking odd jobs and playing every type of role imaginable. His big break came in 1949, when he made his acting debut on Broadway playing a male nurse in "Harvey". In 1951, Borgnine moved to Los Angeles to pursue a movie career, and made his film debut as Bill Street in The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951). His career took off in 1953 when he was cast in the role of Sergeant "Fatso" Judson in From Here to Eternity (1953). This memorable performance led to numerous supporting roles as "heavies" in a steady string of dramas and westerns. He played against type in 1955 by securing the lead role of Marty Piletti, a shy and sensitive butcher, in Marty (1955). He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, despite strong competition from Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, James Dean and James Cagney. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Borgnine performed memorably in such films as The Catered Affair (1956), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and Emperor of the North (1973). Between 1962 and 1966, he played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale in the popular television series McHale's Navy (1962). In early 1984, he returned to television as Dominic Santini in the action series Airwolf (1984) co-starring Jan-Michael Vincent, and in 1995, he was cast in the comedy series The Single Guy (1995) as doorman Manny Cordoba. He also appeared in several made-for-TV movies. Ernest Borgnine passed away aged 95 on July 8, 2012, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, of renal failure. He is survived by his wife Tova, their children and his younger sister Evelyn.
Series | Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspirational Stories Honoring Family | Unknown | 2016 |
Movie | Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2015-05-19 |
Movie | The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez | Rex Page | 2012-04-27 |
Movie | National Lampoon's Snatched | Big Frank Baum | 2011-01-01 |
Movie | Night Club | Albert | 2011-04-11 |
Movie | Love's Christmas Journey | Nicholas | 2011-11-05 |
Movie | The Lion of Judah | Slink (voice) | 2011-06-03 |
Movie | The Wishing Well | Big Jim | 2010-01-09 |
Movie | The Genesis Code | Carl Taylor | 2010-08-25 |
Movie | Another Harvest Moon | Frank | 2010-10-06 |
Movie | RED | Henry | 2010-10-13 |
Movie | Oliviero Rising | Bill | 2009-02-10 |
Movie | Red and White: Gone with the West | Himself / Narrator | 2008-02-01 |
Movie | Strange Wilderness | Milas | 2008-02-01 |
Movie | Aces 'N' Eights | Thurmond Prescott | 2008-03-15 |
Movie | Frozen Stupid | Frank Norgard | 2008-08-01 |
Movie | Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project | Himself | 2007-10-13 |
Movie | A Grandpa for Christmas | Bert O'Riley | 2007-11-24 |
Movie | Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen' | Himself | 2006-01-01 |
Movie | La cura del gorilla | Jerry | 2006-02-02 |
Movie | Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah | 2005-01-01 | |
Movie | 3 Below | Grandpa | 2005-01-10 |
Movie | The Trail to Hope Rose | Eugene | 2004-01-01 |
Movie | Barn Red | Michael Bolini | 2004-01-01 |
Movie | Blueberry | Rolling Star | 2004-02-09 |
Movie | Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade | Self (archive footage) | 2004-07-25 |
Movie | Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King | Self | 2003-01-01 |
Movie | The Long Ride Home | Lucas Moat | 2003-03-27 |
Movie | 11'09''01 September 11 | Old Man (USA) | 2002-09-04 |
Movie | Castle Rock | Nate | 2000-01-01 |
Movie | The Kiss Of Debt | Godfather Mariano | 2000-01-01 |
Series | The District | Unknown | 2000-10-07 |
Movie | Hoover | J. Edgar Hoover | 2000-12-25 |
Movie | The Last Great Ride | Franklin Lyle | 1999-01-01 |
Series | Family Law | Unknown | 1999-09-20 |
Movie | The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island | Ben Quinn | 1999-12-01 |
Movie | Small Soldiers | Kip Killagin | 1998-07-10 |
Movie | BASEketball | Ted Denslow | 1998-07-28 |
Movie | Everyone Loves Mel | Grandpa | 1998-10-10 |
Movie | An All Dogs Christmas Carol | Carface | 1998-11-17 |
Movie | McHale's Navy | Admiral Quinton McHale Sr. | 1997-04-18 |
Movie | Gattaca | Caesar | 1997-09-07 |
Series | 7th Heaven | Unknown | 1996-08-26 |
Movie | Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders | 1996-01-01 | |
Movie | All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 | Carface (voice) | 1996-03-29 |
Series | All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series | 1996-09-21 | |
Movie | The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage | Himself | 1996-11-01 |
Series | Early Edition | Unknown | 1996-09-28 |
Movie | Captiva Island | Arty | 1995-01-01 |
Series | Pinky and the Brain | Unknown | 1995-09-09 |
Series | JAG | Unknown | 1995-09-23 |
Movie | Tierärztin Christine II: Die Versuchung | Dr. Gustav Gruber | 1995-10-12 |
Series | The Single Guy | Manny Cordoba | 1995-09-21 |
Movie | Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart | 1994-01-01 | |
Series | Walker, Texas Ranger | Unknown | 1993-04-21 |
Movie | Der blaue Diamant | Hans Kroger | 1993-01-01 |
Movie | Tierärztin Christine | Dr. Gustav Gruber | 1993-11-21 |
Movie | La Classe américaine | Ernest (archive footage) | 1993-12-31 |
Series | MGM: When the Lion Roars | 1992-03-22 | |
Movie | Mistress | Himself | 1992-07-24 |
Series | Home Improvement | Unknown | 1991-09-17 |
Series | The Commish | Unknown | 1991-09-28 |
Movie | The Last Match | Coach | 1990-02-01 |
Movie | Laser Mission | Prof. Braun | 1989-11-01 |
Movie | Real Men Don't Eat Gummi Bears | Bischof | 1989-08-17 |
Movie | Hoodwinked | Sal Piccolo | 1989-01-01 |
Series | Oceano | Pedro El Triste | 1989-08-20 |
Movie | Moving Target | Captain Morrison | 1988-01-01 |
Movie | The Big Turnaround | Father Lopez | 1988-01-01 |
Movie | Skeleton Coast | Colonel Smith | 1988-04-14 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission | Gen. Sam Worden | 1988-11-10 |
Movie | The Opponent | Victor | 1988-07-08 |
Movie | Spike of Bensonhurst | Baldo Cacetti | 1988-11-11 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission | Gen. Sam Worden | 1987-03-01 |
Series | Treasure Island in Outer Space | Billy Bones | 1987-11-19 |
Series | Jake and the Fatman | Unknown | 1987-09-26 |
Movie | The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | Himself (archive footage) | 1986-03-09 |
Series | Alice in Wonderland | 1985-12-09 | |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission | Gen. Worden | 1985-02-04 |
Movie | Airwolf: The Movie | Dominic Santini | 1984-06-26 |
Series | Highway to Heaven | Unknown | 1984-09-19 |
Series | Airwolf | Dominic « Dom » Santini | 1984-01-22 |
Series | The Last Days of Pompeii | Marcus | 1984-05-06 |
Movie | Code Name: Wild Geese | Frank Fletcher | 1984-10-05 |
Series | Murder, She Wrote | Unknown | 1984-09-30 |
Movie | The Manhunt | Ben Robeson | 1984-12-09 |
Movie | Love Leads the Way: A True Story | Sen. Brighton | 1984-10-07 |
Movie | James Bond: The First 21 Years | Self | 1983-05-27 |
Movie | Young Warriors | Lt. Bob Carrigan | 1983-08-28 |
Movie | Carpool | Mickey Doyle | 1983-10-05 |
Series | Masquerade | Jerry | 1983-12-15 |
Series | Matt Houston | Unknown | 1982-09-26 |
Movie | High Risk | Clint | 1981-01-01 |
Movie | Escape from New York | Cabbie | 1981-05-23 |
Movie | Deadly Blessing | Isaiah Schmidt | 1981-08-14 |
Movie | AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Stewart | Himself | 1980-03-16 |
Movie | When Time Ran Out... | Det. Sgt. Tom Conti | 1980-03-28 |
Series | Magnum, P.I. | Unknown | 1980-12-11 |
Movie | Super Fuzz | Willy Dunlop | 1980-09-18 |
Movie | Ravagers | Rann | 1979-05-01 |
Movie | The Double McGuffin | Firat | 1979-06-01 |
Movie | All Quiet on the Western Front | Stanislaus Katczinsky | 1979-11-14 |
Movie | The Black Hole | Harry Booth | 1979-12-18 |
Movie | The Ghost of Flight 401 | Dom Cimoli | 1978-02-18 |
Movie | Convoy | Sheriff Lyle 'Cottonmouth' Wallace | 1978-06-27 |
Series | Future Cop | 1977-03-05 | |
Series | Jesus of Nazareth | The Centurion | 1977-03-27 |
Movie | The Prince and the Pauper | John Canty | 1977-06-03 |
Movie | Fire! | Sam Brisbane | 1977-05-08 |
Movie | The Greatest | Angelo Dundee | 1977-05-17 |
Movie | Holiday Hookers | Max | 1976-01-01 |
Movie | Shoot | Lou | 1976-05-28 |
Movie | The Devil's Rain | Jonathan Corbis | 1975-07-01 |
Movie | Hustle | Santuro | 1975-12-25 |
Series | Little House on the Prairie | Unknown | 1974-09-11 |
Movie | Law and Disorder | Cy | 1974-10-09 |
Movie | Sunday in the Country | Adam Smith | 1974-11-22 |
Movie | Emperor of the North | Shack | 1973-05-23 |
Series | The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts | Unknown | 1973-09-14 |
Movie | The Neptune Factor | Chief Diver Don MacKay | 1973-08-03 |
Movie | The Boxer | Captain Perkins | 1972-02-02 |
Movie | The Revengers | Hoop | 1972-06-21 |
Movie | The Poseidon Adventure | Mike Rogo | 1972-12-13 |
Movie | Rain for a Dusty Summer | The General | 1971-01-01 |
Movie | Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster? | Deputy Sam Hill | 1971-02-01 |
Movie | The Trackers | Sam Paxton | 1971-12-15 |
Movie | Hannie Caulder | Emmett Clemens | 1971-11-08 |
Movie | Bunny O'Hare | Bill Green - Gruenwald | 1971-10-18 |
Movie | The Adventurers | Fat Cat | 1970-03-25 |
Movie | Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? | Sheriff Harve | 1970-09-11 |
Movie | The Wild Bunch | Dutch Engstrom | 1969-06-17 |
Movie | A Bullet for Sandoval | Don Pedro Sandoval | 1969-08-19 |
Series | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Unknown | 1968-01-22 |
Movie | The Legend of Lylah Clare | Barney Sheean | 1968-08-21 |
Movie | The Split | Bert Clinger | 1968-11-04 |
Movie | Ice Station Zebra | Boris Vaslov | 1968-10-23 |
Movie | The Dirty Dozen | Maj. Gen. Worden | 1967-06-15 |
Movie | Chuka | Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach | 1967-07-23 |
Movie | The Oscar | Barney Yale | 1966-03-04 |
Series | The Dean Martin Show | Unknown | 1965-09-16 |
Series | Run for Your Life | Unknown | 1965-09-13 |
Series | Get Smart | Unknown | 1965-09-18 |
Movie | The Flight of the Phoenix | Trucker Cobb | 1965-12-15 |
Movie | McHale's Navy | Lt. Commander Quinton McHale | 1964-06-25 |
Series | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Unknown | 1962-10-01 |
Series | McHale's Navy | Quinton McHale | 1962-10-11 |
Movie | Go Naked in the World | Pete Stratton | 1961-03-10 |
Movie | Black City | Peppino Navarra | 1961-09-16 |
Movie | Seduction Of The South | Sante Carbone | 1961-12-16 |
Movie | The Last Judgment | Pickpocket | 1961-10-26 |
Movie | Barabbas | Lucius | 1961-12-23 |
Movie | Man on a String | Boris Mitrov | 1960-05-20 |
Movie | Pay or Die! | Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino | 1960-07-27 |
Movie | The Rabbit Trap | Eddie Colt | 1959-06-01 |
Series | Laramie | Unknown | 1959-09-15 |
Movie | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Roo | 1959-12-01 |
Movie | The Vikings | Ragnar | 1958-06-11 |
Movie | The Badlanders | John McBain | 1958-09-03 |
Movie | Torpedo Run | Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan | 1958-10-24 |
Movie | Jubal | Shep Horgan | 1956-04-06 |
Movie | The Catered Affair | Tom Hurley | 1956-06-14 |
Series | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Unknown | 1956-10-05 |
Movie | The Best Things in Life Are Free | Lew Brown | 1956-09-28 |
Movie | Three Brave Men | Bernard F. Goldsmith | 1956-12-01 |
Movie | Violent Saturday | Stadt, Amish Farmer | 1955-04-01 |
Movie | Bad Day at Black Rock | Coley Trimble | 1955-01-13 |
Movie | Marty | Marty Piletti | 1955-04-11 |
Movie | The Square Jungle | Bernie Browne | 1955-12-30 |
Movie | Run for Cover | Morgan | 1955-04-29 |
Movie | The Last Command | Mike Radin | 1955-08-03 |
Movie | Johnny Guitar | Bart Lonergan | 1954-05-26 |
Series | The Lone Wolf | Unknown | 1954-01-01 |
Movie | The Bounty Hunter | Bill Rachin | 1954-09-25 |
Movie | Demetrius and the Gladiators | Strabo | 1954-06-16 |
Movie | Vera Cruz | Donnegan | 1954-12-25 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Series | The Oscars | Unknown | 1953-03-18 |
Movie | From Here to Eternity | Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson | 1953-08-28 |
Movie | The Stranger Wore a Gun | Bull Slager | 1953-07-30 |
Series | This Is Your Life | Unknown | 1952-10-01 |
Movie | The Whistle at Eaton Falls | Bill Street | 1951-08-02 |
Movie | China Corsair | Hu Chang | 1951-06-12 |
Movie | The Mob | Joe Castro | 1951-09-07 |
Series | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Unknown | 1951-10-05 |
Series | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Unknown | 1951-12-24 |
Series | The Ed Sullivan Show | Unknown | 1948-06-20 |
Series | Ford Theatre | Unknown | 1948-10-17 |
Series | The Philco Television Playhouse | Unknown | 1948-10-03 |