Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine ( /ˈboʊrɡnaɪn/; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning an Oscar in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. He was also known for being the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 to 2012. Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino (Italian pronunciation: [borɲˈɲino]) in 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. He was the son of Anna (née Boselli), who immigrated to the United States from Carpi (Modena, Italy), and Camillo Borgnino, who immigrated to the United States from Ottiglio (Alessandria, Italy). Borgnine's parents separated when he was two years old, and he and his mother went to live in Italy for about four and a half years. By 1923, his parents had reconciled, and the family name was changed from Borgnino to Borgnine. The family settled in North Haven, Connecticut, where