Biography 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).
Filmography The Spirit of the Season
2024
Grandpa
Details Rat Pack
2022
Self (archive footage)
Details Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
2015
Self (archive footage)
Details Passion & Poetry: Sam's Trucker Movie
2013
Self
Details Remote Control Magic: The Movie
2012
Self (archive footage)
Details The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez
2012
Rex Page
Details Love's Christmas Journey
2011
Nicholas
Details The Lion of Judah
2011
Slink (voice)
Details National Lampoon's Snatched
2011
Big Frank Baum
Details RED
2010
Henry, The Records Keeper
Details Another Harvest Moon
2010
Frank
Details The Genesis Code
2010
Carl Taylor
Details The Wishing Well
2009
Big Jim
Details Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants
2009
Self
Details Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine
2009
Self
Details Frozen Stupid
2008
Frank Norgard
Details Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance
2008
Judge Holliday
Details Aces 'N' Eights
2008
Thurmond Prescott
Details Strange Wilderness
2008
Milas
Details Red and White: Gone with the West
2008
Himself / Narrator
Details A Grandpa for Christmas
2007
Bert O'Riley
Details Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
2007
Self
Details La cura del gorilla
2006
Jerry
Details Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006
Self
Details That One Summer
2005
Character TBA
Details Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah
2005
Self
Details Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
Self (archive footage)
Details The Trail to Hope Rose
2004
Eugene
Details The Blue Light
2004
Faerie King
Details The Long Ride Home
2003
Lucas Moat
Details Spongebob SquarePants: Deep Sea Sillies
2003
Mermaid Man (voice) (archive footage)
Details Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
2003
Self
Details The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker
2003
Himself - Narrator
Details 11’09”01—September 11
2002
Old Man (segment "USA")
Details Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
2000
Self (archive footage)
Details Frank Sinatra Memorial
2000
Self
Details The Kiss Of Debt
2000
Godfather Mariano
Details The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island
1999
Ben Quinn
Details The Last Great Ride
1999
Franklin Lyle
Details An All Dogs Christmas Carol
1998
Carface Carruthers (voice)
Details Everyone Loves Mel
1998
Grandpa
Details Small Soldiers
1998
Kip Killagin (voice)
Details Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997
Self
Details McHale's Navy
1997
Admiral Quinton McHale Sr.
Details Ernest Borgnine on the Bus
1997
Self
Details The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage
1996
Self
Details Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders
1996
Character TBA
Details All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
1996
Carface (voice)
Details Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach
1996
Self (archive footage)
Details Tierärztin Christine II: Die Versuchung
1995
Dr. Gustav Gruber
Details Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart
1995
Sheriff Laughton
Details La Classe américaine
1993
Ernest (archive footage)
Details Tierärztin Christine
1993
Dr. Gustav Gruber
Details Der blaue Diamant
1993
Hans Kroger
Details Mountain of Diamonds
1991
Ernie
Details Any Man's Death
1990
Herr Gantz
Details Laser Mission
1989
Prof. Braun
Details Real Men Don't Eat Gummi Bears
1989
Bischof
Details Spike of Bensonhurst
1988
Baldo Cacetti
Details The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission
1988
Gen. Sam Worden
Details Skeleton Coast
1988
Colonel Smith
Details Moving Target
1988
Captain Morrison
Details The Big Turnaround
1988
Father Lopez
Details The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission
1987
Gen. Sam Worden
Details The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
Self (archive footage)
Details The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission
1985
Gen. Worden
Details Love Leads the Way: A True Story
1984
Sen. Brighton
Details Code Name: Wild Geese
1984
Frank Fletcher
Details Airwolf: The Movie
1984
Dominic Santini
Details Young Warriors
1983
Lt. Bob Carrigan
Details James Bond: The First 21 Years
1983
Self
Details Blood Feud
1983
J. Edgar Hoover
Details Escape from New York
1981
Cabbie
Details When Time Ran Out...
1980
Det. Sgt. Tom Conti
Details The Black Hole
1979
Harry Booth
Details All Quiet on the Western Front
1979
Stanislaus Katczinsky
Details The Double McGuffin
1979
Firat
Details The Horror Show
1979
(archive footage)
Details Cops and Robin
1978
Joe Cleaver
Details The Ghost of Flight 401
1978
Dom Cimoli
Details The Prince and the Pauper
1977
John Canty
Details The Greatest
1977
Angelo Dundee
Details Future Cop
1976
Officer Joe Cleaver
Details The Devil's Rain
1975
Jonathan Corbis
Details Sunday in the Country
1974
Adam Smith
Details Sandy in Disneyland
1974
Self
Details Twice in a Lifetime
1974
Vince Boselli
Details Legend in Granite
1973
Vince Lombardi
Details The Neptune Factor
1973
Chief Diver Don MacKay
Details Emperor of the North
1973
Shack
Details The Poseidon Adventure
1972
Mike Rogo
Details The Boxer
1972
Captain Perkins
Details Hannie Caulder
1971
Emmett Clemens
Details Bunny O'Hare
1971
Bill Green - Gruenwald
Details Rain for a Dusty Summer
1971
The General
Details Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster?
1971
Deputy Sam Hill
Details Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970
Sheriff Harve
Details A Bullet for Sandoval
1969
Don Pedro Sandoval
Details The Wild Bunch
1969
Dutch Engstrom
Details Ice Station Zebra
1968
Boris Vaslov
Details The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968
Barney Sheean
Details Chuka
1967
Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach
Details The Dirty Dozen
1967
Maj. Gen. Worden
Details The Flight of the Phoenix
1965
Trucker Cobb
Details McHale's Navy
1964
Quinton McHale
Details Seduction Of The South
1961
Sante Carbone
Details The Last Judgment
1961
Pickpocket
Details Black City
1961
Peppino Navarra
Details Go Naked in the World
1961
Pete Stratton
Details Pay or Die!
1960
Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino
Details Man on a String
1960
Boris Mitrov
Details Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
1959
Roo
Details The Rabbit Trap
1959
Eddie Colt
Details Torpedo Run
1958
Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan
Details The Badlanders
1958
John McBain
Details Three Brave Men
1956
Bernard F. Goldsmith
Details The Best Things in Life Are Free
1956
Lew Brown
Details The Catered Affair
1956
Tom Hurley
Details Ernest Borgnine Presents The Catered Affair
1956
Self
Details The Square Jungle
1955
Bernie Browne
Details The Last Command
1955
Mike Radin
Details Violent Saturday
1955
Stadt, Amish Farmer
Details Bad Day at Black Rock
1955
Coley Trimble
Details The Bounty Hunter
1954
Bill Rachin
Details Demetrius and the Gladiators
1954
Strabo
Details Johnny Guitar
1954
Bart Lonergan
Details From Here to Eternity
1953
Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson
Details The Stranger Wore a Gun
1953
Bull Slager
Details The Whistle at Eaton Falls
1951
Bill Street
Details 