Cult star Ernest Borgnine, whose inimitable look and delivery enlivened films both classic and routine, has died aged 95 it has been announced. The son of Italian immigrants, he was going to have a career in the Navy when the acting bug bit him and he began to get work on stage, then in bit parts in movies and TV. His first successes were as the villain in From Here to Eternity (which landed him in trouble from Frank Sinatra fans!), Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz, Marty (recreating his TV role which won him his Oscar), Bad Day at Black Rock (where he's beaten up by a one-armed Spencer Tracy) and The Vikings (capitalising on his talent for explosive interpretations).
In the sixties, he thought he'd try series television, and being a former sailor McHale's Navy sounded right for him - rewarding him with a new generation of fans for this beloved show. He continued to work in film, making memorable appearances in Flight of the Phoenix (he was a favourite of director Robert Aldrich), so bad it's good The Oscar, blockbuster The Dirty Dozen, The Legend of Lylah Clare, never off the TV spy epic Ice Station Zebra, Sam Peckinpah classic The Wild Bunch, and then into the seventies with sleeper hit horror Willard, disaster classic The Poseidon Adventure, Emperor of the North Pole (with the climactic battle with offscreen buddy Lee Marvin), Satanic cult leader in The Devil's Rain, Hustle, with Muhammad Ali in The Greatest, more Peckinpah in Convoy and Disney sci-fi epic The Black Hole.
During the eighties and onwards his choices may have been lower profile but he was just as ubiquitous if you knew where to look, including TV series Airwolf where he was a regular. In movies John Carpenter sought him for Escape from New York, and Wes Craven for Deadly Blessing, but he became better known for guest appearances and largely straight to video efforts, all the while meeting his fans by travelling around in his mobile home. Later roles included the janitor in Gattaca, a toy in Small Soldiers, ludicrous comedy in BASEketball, yet another Western in Blueberry, stoner humour in Strange Wilderness, a caretaker in Red, and of course the voice of Mermaidman in Spongebob Squarepants. One of the nicest guys in the business as you can read in his autobiography (recommended for anecdote after anecdote), his enduring career as a popular star with such broad appeal makes his death a very sad loss, not least as a connection to so many classic stars and filmmakers. Oh, and check out his secret to long life in that YouTube clip. We'll miss him.
