Ernest Borgnine: January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012
It is with much sadness that I have to write this sentence…Ernest Borgnine, 95 years old, passed away on July 8, 2012 due to kidney failure. I haven’t had much exposure to him, seeing him in only four films, but he always stood out. The first movie that I had the chance to watch him in was his Oscar-winning role as the title character, Marty. I remember watching him in that role and I was blown away. It wasn’t an over-the-top role that required him to do too much; it was just a role of an everyday man who lived an everyday life, and he was able to play it with such ease and simplicity. Seeing how amazing he was as Marty has, to this day, been an influence on me to try acting. But that’s aside from the point. Borgnine has appeared in films such as From Here to Eternity, The Dirty Dozen, The Poseidon Adventure, Escape from New York, and The Wild Bunch. He would appear in the television series McHale’s Navy, playing the lead role of Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale. He also had a recurring voice role in SpongeBob SquarePants as Mermaidman, which is silly to include but I have to admit that the episodes that have his character are hilarious because of him. In 2011, Borgnine completed his last film, The Man Who Shook The Hand of Vicente Fernandez, which should be coming out at some point later this year. I plan on watching this film whenever it comes out, and I plan on watching more of Ernest Borgnine when I get the chance, but it’ll be with a heavy heart knowing that he’s no longer with us.
Josh Kaye for Classic Movie Hub
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