Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but calm voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular performer, he also appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows and as a panelist on several game shows.
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). He also played the unconventional lead in many films, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for Marty (1955). He achieved continuing success in the sitcom McHale's Navy (1962–1966), in which he played the title character, and co-starred as Dominic Santini in the action series Airwolf (1984–1986), in addition to a wide variety of other roles.
Borgnine earned his third Primetime Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the 2009 series finale of ER. He was known as the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 until his death in 2012. He had earlier replaced the late Vic Tayback as the voice of the villainous Carface Caruthers in both All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996) and All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series (1996–1998).
Academy Awards
Best Actor
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
British Academy Film Awards
Best Actor in a Leading Role
National Board of Review Awards
Best Actor
Known For
Gattaca
(1997)
Caesar
RED
(2010)
Henry, The Records Keeper
Escape from New York
(1981)
Cabbie
Convoy
(1978)
Lyle Wallace
Small Soldiers
(1998)
Kip Killagin (voice)
BASEketball
(1998)
Ted Denslow
Barabbas
(1961)
Lucius
Renegade
(2004)
Rolling Star
The Vikings
(1958)
Ragnar
Emperor of the North
(1973)
Shack
The Poseidon Adventure
(1972)
Mike Rogo
Super Fuzz
(1980)
Willy Dunlop
The Dirty Dozen
(1967)
Maj. Gen. Worden
From Here to Eternity
(1953)
Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson
The Wild Bunch
(1969)
Dutch Engstrom
Vera Cruz
(1954)
Donnegan
Full Filmography
Acting
The Mob
(1951)
Joe Castro
China Corsair
(1951)
Hu Chang
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
(1951)
Bill Street
From Here to Eternity
(1953)
Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson
The Stranger Wore a Gun
(1953)
Bull Slager
Johnny Guitar
(1954)
Bart Lonergan
Vera Cruz
(1954)
Donnegan
Demetrius and the Gladiators
(1954)
Strabo
The Bounty Hunter
(1954)
Bill Rachin
Bad Day at Black Rock
(1955)
Coley Trimble
Marty
(1955)
Marty Piletti
Violent Saturday
(1955)
Stadt, Amish Farmer
Run for Cover
(1955)
Morgan
The Square Jungle
(1955)
Bernie Browne
The Last Command
(1955)
Mike Radin
Jubal
(1956)
Shep Horgan
The Best Things in Life Are Free
(1956)
Lew Brown
The Catered Affair
(1956)
Tom Hurley
Three Brave Men
(1956)
Bernard F. Goldsmith
The Vikings
(1958)
Ragnar
Torpedo Run
(1958)
Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan
The Badlanders
(1958)
John McBain
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
(1959)
Roo
The Rabbit Trap
(1959)
Eddie Colt
Pay or Die!
(1960)
Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino
Man on a String
(1960)
Boris Mitrov
Barabbas
(1961)
Lucius
Black City
(1961)
Peppino Navarra
Go Naked in the World
(1961)
Pete Stratton
The Last Judgment
(1961)
Pickpocket
Seduction Of The South
(1961)
Sante Carbone
McHale's Navy
(1964)
Quinton McHale
The Flight of the Phoenix
(1965)
Trucker Cobb
The Oscar
(1966)
Barney Yale
The Dirty Dozen
(1967)
Maj. Gen. Worden
Chuka
(1967)
Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach
The Split
(1968)
Bert Clinger
Ice Station Zebra
(1968)
Boris Vaslov
The Legend of Lylah Clare
(1968)
Barney Sheean
The Wild Bunch
(1969)
Dutch Engstrom
A Bullet for Sandoval
(1969)
Don Pedro Sandoval
The Adventurers
(1970)
Fat Cat
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
(1970)
Sheriff Harve
Hannie Caulder
(1971)
Emmett Clemens
Willard
(1971)
Al Martin
Bunny O'Hare
(1971)
Bill Green - Gruenwald
The Trackers
(1971)
Sam Paxton
Rain for a Dusty Summer
(1971)
The General
Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster?
(1971)
Deputy Sam Hill
The Poseidon Adventure
(1972)
Mike Rogo
The Revengers
(1972)
Hoop
The Boxer
(1972)
Captain Perkins
Emperor of the North
(1973)
Shack
The Neptune Factor
(1973)
Chief Diver Don MacKay
Legend in Granite
(1973)
Vince Lombardi
Law and Disorder
(1974)
Cy
Sunday in the Country
(1974)
Adam Smith
Twice in a Lifetime
(1974)
Vince Boselli
Hustle
(1975)
Santuro
The Devil's Rain
(1975)
Jonathan Corbis
Shoot
(1976)
Lou
Holiday Hookers
(1976)
Max
Future Cop
(1976)
Officer Joe Cleaver
The Prince and the Pauper
(1977)
John Canty
The Greatest
(1977)
Angelo Dundee
Fire!
(1977)
Sam Brisbane
Convoy
(1978)
Lyle Wallace
The Ghost of Flight 401
(1978)
Dom Cimoli
Cops and Robin
(1978)
Joe Cleaver
All Quiet on the Western Front
(1979)
Stanislaus Katczinsky
The Black Hole
(1979)
Harry Booth
The Double McGuffin
(1979)
Firat
Ravagers
(1979)
Rann
The Horror Show
(1979)
(archive footage)
Super Fuzz
(1980)
Willy Dunlop
When Time Ran Out...
(1980)
Det. Sgt. Tom Conti
Escape from New York
(1981)
Cabbie
Deadly Blessing
(1981)
Isaiah
High Risk
(1981)
Clint
Young Warriors
(1983)
Lt. Bob Carrigan
Carpool
(1983)
Mickey Doyle
James Bond: The First 21 Years
(1983)
Self
Blood Feud
(1983)
J. Edgar Hoover
Airwolf: The Movie
(1984)
Dominic Santini
The Manhunt
(1984)
Ben Robeson
Code Name: Wild Geese
(1984)
Frank Fletcher
Love Leads the Way: A True Story
(1984)
Sen. Brighton
The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission
(1985)
Gen. Worden
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
(1986)
Self (archive footage)
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission
(1987)
Gen. Sam Worden
Moving Target
(1988)
Captain Morrison
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission
(1988)
Gen. Sam Worden
Skeleton Coast
(1988)
Colonel Smith
The Opponent
(1988)
Victor
Spike of Bensonhurst
(1988)
Baldo Cacetti
The Big Turnaround
(1988)
Father Lopez
Real Men Don't Eat Gummi Bears
(1989)
Bischof
Laser Mission
(1989)
Prof. Braun
Hoodwinked
(1989)
Sal Piccolo
The Last Match
(1990)
Coach
Any Man's Death
(1990)
Herr Gantz
Tides of War
(1990)
Doctor
Appearances
(1990)
Emil Danzig
Mountain of Diamonds
(1991)
Ernie
Mistress
(1992)
Himself
Der blaue Diamant
(1993)
Hans Kroger
Tierärztin Christine
(1993)
Dr. Gustav Gruber
La Classe américaine
(1993)
Ernest (archive footage)
Captiva Island
(1995)
Arty
Tierärztin Christine II: Die Versuchung
(1995)
Dr. Gustav Gruber
Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart
(1995)
Sheriff Laughton
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders
(1996)
All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
(1996)
Carface (voice)
The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage
(1996)
Self
Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach
(1996)
Self (archive footage)
Gattaca
(1997)
Caesar
McHale's Navy
(1997)
Admiral Quinton McHale Sr.
Ernest Borgnine on the Bus
(1997)
Self
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
(1997)
Self
Small Soldiers
(1998)
Kip Killagin (voice)
BASEketball
(1998)
Ted Denslow
An All Dogs Christmas Carol
(1998)
Carface (voice)
Everyone Loves Mel
(1998)
Grandpa
The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island
(1999)
Ben Quinn
The Last Great Ride
(1999)
Franklin Lyle
Abilene
(1999)
Hotis Brown
Castle Rock
(2000)
Nate
Hoover
(2000)
J. Edgar Hoover
The Kiss Of Debt
(2000)
Godfather Mariano
Frank Sinatra Memorial
(2000)
Self
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
(2000)
Self (archive footage)
11'09''01 September 11
(2002)
Old Man (segment "USA")
The Long Ride Home
(2003)
Lucas Moat
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
(2003)
Self
The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker
(2003)
Himself - Narrator
Spongebob SquarePants: Deep Sea Sillies
(2003)
Mermaid Man
Renegade
(2004)
Rolling Star
Barn Red
(2004)
Michael Bolini
The Trail to Hope Rose
(2004)
Eugene
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
(2004)
Self (archive footage)
The Blue Light
(2004)
Faerie King
3 Below
(2005)
Grandpa
Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah
(2005)
Self
Rail Kings
(2005)
Steamtrain
That One Summer
(2005)
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
(2006)
Self
La cura del gorilla
(2006)
Jerry
A Grandpa for Christmas
(2007)
Bert O'Riley
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
(2007)
Self
Strange Wilderness
(2008)
Milas
Aces 'N' Eights
(2008)
Thurmond Prescott
Red and White: Gone with the West
(2008)
Himself / Narrator
Frozen Stupid
(2008)
Frank Norgard
Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance
(2008)
Judge Holliday
The Wishing Well
(2009)
Big Jim
Oliviero Rising
(2009)
Bill
Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine
(2009)
Self
Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants
(2009)
The Genesis Code
(2010)
Carl Taylor
RED
(2010)
Henry, The Records Keeper
Another Harvest Moon
(2010)
Frank
The Lion of Judah
(2011)
Slink (voice)
National Lampoon's Snatched
(2011)
Big Frank Baum
Night Club
(2011)
Albert
Love's Christmas Journey
(2011)
Nicholas
The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez
(2012)
Rex Page
Remote Control Magic: The Movie
(2012)
Self (archive footage)
Passion & Poetry: Sam's Trucker Movie
(2013)
Self
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
(2015)
Self (archive footage)
Naples '44
(2016)
Self
Rat Pack
(2022)
Self (archive footage)
Crew