Actor Ernest Borgnine
died today of renal failure. He was 95.
Borgnine’s career lasted more than six decades. He first came to
fame in 1953 playing the thuggish Fatso in From Here to
Eternity. Two years later, Borgnine was cast in a role that
was 180 degrees awat from Fatso. He was casty as Marty Pigelli, the
30-something bachelor who feared he would be alone for the rest of
life in the Paddy Chayefsky penned Marty. Borgnine’s
performance would win him an Academy Award for Best Actor beating
out the likes of Jimmy Cagney, Spencer Tracy, James Dean and his
From Here to Eternity co-star Frank Sinatra.
Yet Borgnine is perhaps best known for his work in TV with the
lead role in McHale’s Navy. Younger viewers will recognize
his voice as The Mermaid Man in Sponge Bob Square
Pants.
Borgnine was also amongst Hollywood’s most Republicans.
I leave you with a classic scene
from Marty which remains as resonant now as when it was
filmed nearly sixty years ago.
