Ernest Borgnine
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).
Acted in
The Spirit of the Season
2024
as Grandpa
Rat Pack
2022
as Self (archive footage)
Naples '44
2016
as Self
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
2015
as Self (archive footage)
Passion & Poetry: Sam's Trucker Movie
2013
as Self
Remote Control Magic: The Movie
2012
as Self (archive footage)
The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez
2012
as Rex Page
Love's Christmas Journey
2011
as Nicholas
The Lion of Judah
2011
as Slink (voice)
Night Club
2011
as Albert
National Lampoon's Snatched
2011
as Big Frank Baum
RED
2010
as Henry, The Records Keeper
Another Harvest Moon
2010
as Frank
The Genesis Code
2010
as Carl Taylor
The Wishing Well
2009
as Big Jim
Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants
2009
as Self
Oliviero Rising
2009
as Bill
Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine
2009
as Self
Frozen Stupid
2008
as Frank Norgard
Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance
2008
as Judge Holliday
Aces 'N' Eights
2008
as Thurmond Prescott
Strange Wilderness
2008
as Milas
Red and White: Gone with the West
2008
as Himself / Narrator
A Grandpa for Christmas
2007
as Bert O'Riley
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
2007
as Self
La cura del gorilla
2006
as Jerry
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006
as Self
Rail Kings
2005
as Steamtrain
3 Below
2005
as Grandpa
That One Summer
2005
Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah
2005
as Self
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
as Self (archive footage)
Renegade
2004
as Rolling Star
The Trail to Hope Rose
2004
as Eugene
Barn Red
2004
as Michael Bolini
The Blue Light
2004
as Faerie King
The Long Ride Home
2003
as Lucas Moat
Spongebob SquarePants: Deep Sea Sillies
2003
as Mermaid Man
Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King
2003
as Self
The American Hobo: History of the Railriding Worker
2003
as Himself - Narrator
11’09”01—September 11
2002
as Old Man (segment "USA")
Hoover
2000
as J. Edgar Hoover
The District
2000
as Uncle Mike Murphy
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
2000
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra Memorial
2000
as Self
Castle Rock
2000
as Nate
The Kiss Of Debt
2000
as Godfather Mariano
The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island
1999
as Ben Quinn
Family Law
1999
as Frank Collero
SpongeBob SquarePants
1999
as Mermaid Man (voice)
Abilene
1999
as Hotis Brown
The Last Great Ride
1999
as Franklin Lyle
An All Dogs Christmas Carol
1998
as Carface Carruthers (voice)
Everyone Loves Mel
1998
as Grandpa
BASEketball
1998
as Ted Denslow
Small Soldiers
1998
as Kip Killagin (voice)
Gattaca
1997
as Caesar
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western
1997
as Self
McHale's Navy
1997
as Admiral Quinton McHale Sr.
Ernest Borgnine on the Bus
1997
as Self
The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage
1996
as Self
Early Edition
1996
All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series
1996
as Carface Caruthers (voice)
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders
1996
7th Heaven
1996
as Joe
All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
1996
as Carface (voice)
Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Tierärztin Christine II: Die Versuchung
1995
as Dr. Gustav Gruber
JAG
1995
as Artemus Sullivan
The Single Guy
1995
as Manny Cordoba
Pinky and the Brain
1995
as Father (voice)
Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart
1995
as Sheriff Laughton
Captiva Island
1995
as Arty
Touched by an Angel
1994
as Max Blandish
La Classe américaine
1993
as Ernest (archive footage)
Tierärztin Christine
1993
as Dr. Gustav Gruber
Walker, Texas Ranger
1993
as Eddie Ryan
Der blaue Diamant
1993
as Hans Kroger
Mistress
1992
as Himself
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
Mountain of Diamonds
1991
as Ernie
The Commish
1991
as Frank Nardino
Home Improvement
1991
as Eddie Phillips
The Burning Shore
1991
as Ernie
Appearances
1990
as Emil Danzig
Any Man's Death
1990
as Herr Gantz
The Last Match
1990
as Coach
Tides of War
1990
as Doctor
The Simpsons
1989
as Ernest Borgnine (voice)
Hoodwinked
1989
as Sal Piccolo
Laser Mission
1989
as Prof. Braun
Oceano
1989
as Pedro El Triste
Real Men Don't Eat Gummi Bears
1989
as Bischof
Spike of Bensonhurst
1988
as Baldo Cacetti
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission
1988
as Gen. Sam Worden
The Opponent
1988
as Victor
Skeleton Coast
1988
as Colonel Smith
Moving Target
1988
as Captain Morrison
The Big Turnaround
1988
as Father Lopez
Treasure Island in Outer Space
1987
as Billy Bones
Jake and the Fatman
1987
as Col. Tom Cody
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission
1987
as Gen. Sam Worden
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
as Self (archive footage)
Alice in Wonderland
1985
as Lion
The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission
1985
as Gen. Worden
The Manhunt
1984
as Ben Robeson
Love Leads the Way: A True Story
1984
as Sen. Brighton
Code Name: Wild Geese
1984
as Frank Fletcher
Murder, She Wrote
1984
as Cosmo Ponzini
Highway to Heaven
1984
as Guido Liggio
Airwolf: The Movie
1984
as Dominic Santini
The Last Days of Pompeii
1984
as Marcus
Airwolf
1984
as Dominic Santini
Masquerade
1983
as Jerry
Carpool
1983
as Mickey Doyle
Young Warriors
1983
as Lt. Bob Carrigan
James Bond: The First 21 Years
1983
as Self
Blood Feud
1983
as J. Edgar Hoover
Matt Houston
1982
as Buster Ryan
Deadly Blessing
1981
as Isaiah
Escape from New York
1981
as Cabbie
High Risk
1981
as Clint
Magnum, P.I.
1980
Magnum, P.I.
1980
as Earl Gianelli / 'Mr. White Death'
Super Fuzz
1980
as Willy Dunlop
When Time Ran Out...
1980
as Det. Sgt. Tom Conti
The Black Hole
1979
as Harry Booth
All Quiet on the Western Front
1979
as Stanislaus Katczinsky
Ravagers
1979
as Rann
The Double McGuffin
1979
as Firat
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
Convoy
1978
as Lyle Wallace
Cops and Robin
1978
as Joe Cleaver
The Ghost of Flight 401
1978
as Dom Cimoli
The Love Boat
1977
as Dominic Rosselli
The Prince and the Pauper
1977
as John Canty
The Greatest
1977
as Angelo Dundee
Fire!
1977
as Sam Brisbane
Jesus Of Nazareth
1977
as The Centurion
Jesus of Nazareth
1977
as The Centurion
Future Cop
1977
as Joe Cleaver
Shoot
1976
as Lou
Future Cop
1976
as Officer Joe Cleaver
Holiday Hookers
1976
as Max
Hustle
1975
as Santuro
The Devil's Rain
1975
as Jonathan Corbis
Sunday in the Country
1974
as Adam Smith
Law and Disorder
1974
as Cy
Little House on the Prairie
1974
Sandy in Disneyland
1974
as Self
Twice in a Lifetime
1974
as Vince Boselli
Legend in Granite
1973
as Vince Lombardi
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973
as Self
The Neptune Factor
1973
as Chief Diver Don MacKay
Emperor of the North
1973
as Shack
The Poseidon Adventure
1972
as Mike Rogo
The Revengers
1972
as Hoop
The Boxer
1972
as Captain Perkins
The Trackers
1971
as Sam Paxton
Hannie Caulder
1971
as Emmett Clemens
Bunny O'Hare
1971
as Bill Green - Gruenwald
Rain for a Dusty Summer
1971
as The General
Willard
1971
as Al Martin
Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster?
1971
as Deputy Sam Hill
Great Performances
1971
as Self
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970
as Sheriff Harve
The Adventurers
1970
as Fat Cat
The Jerry Lewis Show
1969
as Self
A Bullet for Sandoval
1969
as Don Pedro Sandoval
The Wild Bunch
1969
as Dutch Engstrom
The Split
1968
as Bert Clinger
Ice Station Zebra
1968
as Boris Vaslov
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968
as Barney Sheean
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1967
as Self
Chuka
1967
as Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach
The Dirty Dozen
1967
as Maj. Gen. Worden
Hollywood Squares
1966
as The Center Square
Hollywood Squares
1966
as Self
The Oscar
1966
as Barney Yale
Best of The Dean Martin Variety Show
1966
The Flight of the Phoenix
1965
as Trucker Cobb
Get Smart
1965
as TV Viewer (uncredited)
The Dean Martin Show
1965
Run for Your Life
1965
as Harry Martin
McHale's Navy
1964
as Quinton McHale
The Ray Anthony Show
1963
as himself
McHale's Navy
1962
as Quinton McHale
Barabbas
1961
as Lucius
Seduction Of The South
1961
as Sante Carbone
The Last Judgment
1961
as Pickpocket
Black City
1961
as Peppino Navarra
Go Naked in the World
1961
as Pete Stratton
Pay or Die!
1960
as Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino
Man on a String
1960
as Boris Mitrov
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
1959
as Roo
Laramie
1959
The Rabbit Trap
1959
as Eddie Colt
Torpedo Run
1958
as Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan
The Badlanders
1958
as John McBain
The Vikings
1958
as Ragnar
Wagon Train
1957
as Willy Moran
Wagon Train
1957
as Estaban Zamora
Wagon Train
1957
as Indian Brave (uncredited)
Wagon Train
1957
as Earl Packer
The O. Henry Playhouse
1957
as Buck
Three Brave Men
1956
as Bernard F. Goldsmith
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Big Jim Morrison
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Willie
The Best Things in Life Are Free
1956
as Lew Brown
The Catered Affair
1956
as Tom Hurley
Jubal
1956
as Shep Horgan
The Square Jungle
1955
as Bernie Browne
The Last Command
1955
as Mike Radin
Run for Cover
1955
as Morgan
Marty
1955
as Marty Piletti
Violent Saturday
1955
as Stadt, Amish Farmer
Bad Day at Black Rock
1955
as Coley Trimble
Vera Cruz
1954
as Donnegan
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self
The Bounty Hunter
1954
as Bill Rachin
Demetrius and the Gladiators
1954
as Strabo
Johnny Guitar
1954
as Bart Lonergan
The Lone Wolf
1954
as Saks
From Here to Eternity
1953
as Sgt. James R. 'Fatso' Judson
The Stranger Wore a Gun
1953
as Bull Slager
The Oscars
1953
as Self
General Electric Theater
1953
as Matty Moran
General Electric Theater
1953
as Major David Orlovsky
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
as Gus White
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Stanislaus Katczinsky
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Hully Brown
The Mob
1951
as Joe Castro
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
1951
as Bill Street
China Corsair
1951
as Hu Chang
Ford Theatre
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
as Mathew O'Rourke