Vale: Ernest Borgnine

Veteran character-actor Ernest Borgnine, best known for his roles in McHale’s Navy, Marty, From Here to Eternity and The Poseidon Adventure has died, aged 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, said that Borgnine died of apparent kidney failure with his family by his side.

Borgnine began acting after serving in the Navy during World War II. He made his film debut in 1951’s Whistle at Eaton Fall and won the best actor Oscar for Marty. Over the years, he appeared in such acclaimed films as Bad Day at Black Rock, Jubal, Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch and The Poseidon Adventure.

But it was the role of a regulation-breaking commander of a PT boat in the South Pacific during World War II that TV audiences best remember him for.

From 1962 to 1966, he played the title role in McHale’s Navy.  Borgnine was pitted against the constantly frustrated Capt. Binghamton ( Joe Flynn) with  Tim Conway as his bumbling sidekick, Ensign Charles Parker.

He became the oldest performer to receive a Golden Globe nomination when he was acknowledged for the 2007 television movie A Grandpa for Christmas, and in 2009, at age 92, he was nominated for an Emmy for his guest performance in the final season of ER.

When Borgnine received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2011, his career in front of the camera had spanned six decades. In all, Borgnine was credited with more than 40 movie roles and more than 200 TV appearances. And at age 94, the venerable actor was still going strong.

“It’s a very sad day,” Borgnine’s manager Lynda Bensky tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The industry has lost someone great, the calibre of which we will never see again. A true icon, but more importantly the world has lost a sage and loving man who taught us all how to ‘grow young.’ His infectious smile and chuckle made the world a happier place.”

Source: LA Times