Ernest Borgnine (/ˈbɔːrɡnaɪn/ BORG-nyne; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades.

Borgnine's film career began in 1951 and included supporting roles in China Corsair (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), Vera Cruz (1954), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), and The Wild Bunch (1969).

Borgnine starred as the title character in the sitcom McHale's Navy (1962–1966) and co-starred as Dominic Santini in the action series Airwolf (1984–1986).

Borgnine earned his third Primetime Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the 2009 series finale of ER.

His mother, Anna (née Boselli) hailed from Carpi, near Modena, while his father Camillo Borgnino was a native of Ottiglio near Alessandria.

[6] The family settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where Borgnine graduated from James Hillhouse High School.

[13][14] Borgnine returned to his parents' house in Connecticut after his Navy discharge without a job to go back to and no direction.

[16] It had been named for the director's allowing audiences to barter produce for admission during the cash-lean years of the Great Depression.

Borgnine moved to Los Angeles, California, where he eventually received his big break in Columbia film directed by Fred Zinnemann, the romantic war drama From Here to Eternity (1953), playing the sadistic Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, who beats a stockade prisoner in his charge, Angelo Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra).

Borgnine built a reputation as a dependable character actor, and played villains in early films, including movies such as Johnny Guitar and Vera Cruz.

Borgnine travelled to Australia to play the lead in a role originally intended for Burt Lancaster, the cane cutter Roo, in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

[19] In 1962, Borgnine signed a contract with Universal Studios for the lead role as the gruff but lovable skipper, Quinton McHale, in what began as a serious one-hour 1962 episode called "Seven Against the Sea" for Alcoa Premiere, and later reworked to a comedy called McHale's Navy, a World War II sitcom, which also co-starred unfamiliar comedians Joe Flynn as Capt.

He thrived on the adulation from fans for their favorite navy man, and in 1963 received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

At the time McHale's Navy began production, Borgnine was married to actress Katy Jurado.

"[20] Borgnine's film career flourished for the next three decades, including roles in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967) with Lee Marvin, Ice Station Zebra (1968), Willard (1971) The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Emperor of the North (1973), Convoy (1978), The Black Hole (1979), Super Fuzz (1980) and Escape from New York (1981).

[15] During this time he also appeared on numerous television shows such as Little House on the Prairie (a two-part episode entitled "The Lord is My Shepherd"), The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., Highway to Heaven, Murder, She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, Home Improvement, Touched by an Angel, the final episodes of ER, and many others.

After he was approached by producer Donald P. Bellisario, who had been impressed by Borgnine's guest role as a wrestler in a 1982 episode of Magnum, P.I., he immediately agreed to join the series.

Borgnine's strong performances belied his exhaustion due to the grueling production schedule, and the challenges of working with his younger, series lead.

[22] in 1995 he appeared with Jonathan Silverman in The Single Guy as doorman Manny Cordoba, which lasted two seasons.

As narrator and storyteller, Borgnine recounts a string of related supernatural tales, his modern-day fables notably centering on an enchanted and malicious cymbal-banging monkey toy stolen from the wizard Merlin.

The film was later featured in the parodical television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, and has since gained a prominent cult following.

In 1998, Borgnine appeared in the Trey Parker and Matt Stone comedy BASEketball as entrepreneur Ted Denslow.

Starting in 1999, Borgnine provided his voice talent to the animated sitcom SpongeBob SquarePants as the elderly superhero Mermaid Man (where he was paired up with McHale's Navy co-star Tim Conway as the voice of Mermaid Man's sidekick Barnacle Boy).

Borgnine also appeared as himself in The Simpsons episode "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood", in addition to a number of television commercials.

He played a man who, after his estranged daughter ends up in the hospital because of a car accident, discovers that he has a granddaughter he never knew about.

Borgnine received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture made for Television for his performance.

Ernie is a loose, conversational recollection of highlights from his acting career and notable events from his personal life.

In late 2011, Borgnine completed what was his last film, playing Rex Page in The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez.

[32] For his contributions to the film industry, Borgnine received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

[35] Borgnine's hometown of Hamden, Connecticut, where he enjoyed a large and vocal following, named a park and a small road in his honor.