Film and TV actor Ernest Borgnine dies

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
7/9/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Ordinary guy remained in top demand until his death at 95

Handsome matinee idols in Hollywood are a dime-a-dozen. Stocky, with a gap-toothed smile, Ernest Borgnine looked like your neighborhood butcher. As such, he was cast as the lead role in "Marty," about a lonely butcher finding love in the Big Apple back in 1955. Netting an Academy Award for that performance, Borgnine remained an in-demand actor who worked right up until his death this week at the age of 95.

In person, actor Ernest Borgnine was always gracious to his many fans and was thrilled to know that the world still desired his talents while in his nineties.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A native of Connecticut, Borgnine conquered the small screen with the popular situation comedy "McHale's Navy." His bulldog looks and charisma landed him lots of bad guy roles in such classics as "From Here to Eternity," "Vera Cruz" and "Bad Day at Black Rock."

It was only after he took on the role of "Marty," a sympathetic schlep pining for life away from his neighborhood buddies that he gained recognition. While Borgnine was considered "old Hollywood," he broke the mold for leading men who previously had to be polished, suave and conventionally handsome. He opened the doors for other "non-leading man" types such as Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino, ethnic-looking men who won top roles on the basis of their raw acting talent.

In a film career that began in 1951, Borgnine appeared in more than 115 movies, including such staples as "Johnny Guitar," "Demetrius and the Gladiators," "The Flight of the Phoenix," "The Oscar," "The Dirty Dozen,""The Wild Bunch,""Willard," "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Emperor of the North."

The son of Italian immigrants, Borgnine's parents separated when he was two years old, and his mother took him to live in Italy, returning after a few years.

Borgnine graduated from New Haven High School in 1935, then worked a few weeks as a vegetable truck driver before enlisting in the Navy as an apprentice seaman. He reenlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor and spent the war as a gunner's mate on a destroyer.

Borgnine returned home, unsure of what he was going to do. His mother suggested he try acting as she told him, "You're always making a fool of yourself in front of people."

Borgnine died of apparent kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Borgnine went into the hospital "a couple of days ago" for a checkup, his publicist said.

In person, Borgnine was always gracious to his many fans and was thrilled to know that the world still desired his talents while in his nineties. One of his most recent roles was as the voice of Mermaid Man, an elderly superhero on the "SpongeBob SquarePants" cartoon show.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: Ernest Borgnine, TV, film, Marty, actor, death

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Brian
10 months ago
I like to think that Ernest IS in Heaven, in fact iI'm sure of it -- considering all the pleasure he gave to the world during his film career and the fact that he was such a great person, I'm certain that would have been taken into account.

Also over the years he described himself as a ''pretty lousy Catholic" and I suspect he may have been one in his early days and brought up one by his family so I'm sure there are those above who certainly would have 'put a foot in the door', so to speak, for him when he appeared on the scene.

I know he played a Catholic in "Marty" and one can never forget his performance in one of the famous episodes of "Little House on the Prairie" called "The Lord is My Shepherd" in which he played an angel -- I'm sure those above would have taken note of this among many, many other things during a life of 95 years.

Nobody's perfect, but I for one look forward to meeting him one day, one way or another.
Timothy J. Corbitt
10 months ago
My favorite role for Mr. Borgnine, was as the Roman Centurion whose servant was dying in Franco Zeffereli's "Jesus Of Nazareth" miniseries. We have it on DVD, and watch it almost every Easter.
Dennis
10 months ago
Unfortunately, the late Ernest Borgnine was a 33rd degree Freemason so he was not Catholic. Although God is the Final Judge, it is likely that poor Ernest will suffer an eternity of separation.

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