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Oscar winning actor Ernest Borgnine passes away

Oscar winning actor Ernest Borgnine passes away

THE death has taken place of the Oscar winning actor Ernest Borgnine. He was 95.

Mr. Borgnine was invariably cast as the tough guy in many of his movies, but he could also portray more sensitive souls with heart-warming results.

In a career which spanned more than 60 years, Mr. Borgnine made more than 100 films as appearing on the stage and television.

His big movie break came in 1953 when appeared in From Here To Eternity as the sadistic stockade sergeant ‘Fatso’ Judson. It was a role which was to open many doors for the young actor in Hollywood.

However, it was not as a tough guy that was to earn him his Academy Award. The Oscar was awarded for his performance as a lonely New York butcher who set out to find love in the film Marty (1955). 

It was a performance that he was to remain proud of throughout his long career (see below).

Mr. Borgnine was to again defy typecasting in the 1960s when he took on role in the TV comedy McHale’s Navy. 

The navy theme would have been close to his heart, having enlisted as a trainee seaman in the U.S. Navy in the late 1930s only to be discharged shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbour, then quickly re-enlisted to serve for the remainder of World War II.

Following the war, young Ermes Effron Borgnino (having been born to Italian immigrants in Connecticut) was at a loss of what to do with his life. It was his mother who suggested he try acting, telling her son: “You’re always making a fool of yourself in front of people.”

He enrolled in a stage school and discovered that acting really was for him.

Throughout his career he has delivered many great performances to entertain audiences. His movie credits include some of Hollywood’s best: Bad Day At Black Rock (1955), alongside Spencer Tracy, The Vikings (1958), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

He completed his final film, The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vincente Fernandez, in early 2012.

To view an interview in which Ernest Borgnine discusses his role in Marty, click here.

 

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