Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

Ernest Borgnine was a character actor who redefined what that role meant. In a career that spanned 60 years, his craft as an actor of multiple characters, a rogue’s gallery of villains and heroes, he brought presences to the screen that few actors in that same category do today.

While his maleficent role in From Here to Eternity typecast him, he seemed never to feel bad for that. He understood, it seemed, on some level that his unusual look, his gravelly voice and his gap front teeth gave him something that leading men of that era lacked: the ability to disappear into a role.

Yes, his one true leading man role in Marty won him an Oscar in 1955, but in those fifty-seven years between that win and his death this past weekend at the age of 95, Borgnine gave the world a lasting legacy of interesting, sometimes horrible, sometimes sweet supporting characters. He always brought gravitas to any role, and embraced every character with life that went beyond the page.

He was also, in this day and age, one the few actors who worked almost until their passing, with the Independent film The Man Who Shook The Hand Of Vincente Fernandez made last year –and playing in the film festival circuit now- being his final work (it also earned him a Best Actor Award at the Long Beach film festival in April). But before that, before earning an Emmy nomination nod for a guest-star performance in the final 2 episodes of ER at the age of 92, he shined in many films roles. There was Vera Cruz, Bad Day at Blackrock, The Badlanders, The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, The Poseidon Adventure, The Blackhole, Escape From New York and many others.

He was also one the few actors in those early days of TV to cross over into that media when most thought television as flash in the pan by scoring a 4 year run in the classic series McHales’s Navy (and having a cameo in the 1997 big screen flop) and in the 1980’s he did Airwolf and The Single Guy. He also had a recurring role on the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants and played himself on an episode of The Simpsons. He did three TV sequels to The Dirty Dozen and did guest turns on Home Improvement, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger and 7^th Heaven.

And as the tributes pour in, we also learned that Borgnine was one the classiest, nicest actors. For his 2 year run on The Single Guy, series star Jonathan Silverman said he always came to the set early, stayed late and made sure everyone had a good time. 

And sometimes, as it happens when actors live a long life, it’s only now that they get the recognition they deserved years before.  But then again, as it seemed typical of Borgnine, he seemed to register shock when in 2011 the Screen Actors Guild awarded him their 47th Annual Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.  He told Deadline then:  “Heck, I’m just a character actor for God sakes. I’m no big star. You say to yourself, ‘Am I really worth it? Do I deserve something like this?’ It’s hard to explain. I’ve always enjoyed being an actor. I always had the feeling something would come along that’s even better with the next picture. It was my mom who told me, ‘Ernie, if you make even one person happy with your smile or a funny thing you did every day, you’ll have accomplished a great deal.’ And that’s all I’ve ever tried to do.”

Perhaps it was this humble aspect of Ernest Borgnine, the man who never thought himself a “star,” that will forever mark him as one of cinema’s most underappreciated character actors.