| # | Fact |
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| 1 | He returned to Hamden, Connecticut, in 1971, for a reunion and spent hours visiting familiar sites and reminiscing with town residents. |
| 2 | His family had a garden in the backyard and Borgnine recalled the hours he spent working there with great fondness. His mother oversaw the gardening so that it included vegetables to eat and flowers for the kitchen table. Borgnine recalled that the garden grew larger and the vegetables it yielded became more central to the family's meals after the stock market crashed in 1929. He so took to working the soil that he signed on at a nearby farm picking peaches and apples. |
| 3 | He was most widely known to be a social butterfly. |
| 4 | Though he was in all 3 sequels to The Dirty Dozen (1967), he was not in the sequel to McHale's Navy (1964) made the following year McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). In later years he told interviewers that he never got a clear explanation why the movie had been made without him despite the original's box office success and that he was amazed that he hadn't even been asked to appear in it, saying that theatre owners criticized him, thinking he had refused to do the movie. Theories as to why he wasn't asked include the fact that Universal and producer Edward Montagne wanted to keep the production's budget low as well as develop Joe Flynn and Tim Conway into a starring team for a theatrical movie franchise the way Montagne would eventually do with Don Knotts in the years to come. Ernest Borgnine would shrug this setback off very fast and accept one of the main roles in the all star Robert Aldrich production The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), would go on and star in the tv series' 1965-66 final season and decades later be the only original McHale's cast member included in the remake/sequel McHale's Navy (1997). |
| 5 | He was considered for the role of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972) before Marlon Brando was cast. |
| 6 | One of his greatest hobbies was stamp collecting. He started as a boy collecting stamps and never settled on any issue or specialization; he did have an extensive collection of Russian and Cuban stamps collected during the Cold War period. He would go on to become a member of the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) from September 1975 through January 1984 and in 1978 starred in public service announcements in print and television for the US Postal Service, promoting their "50th Anniversary Year of Talking Pictures" and "Surrender at Saratoga" Commemoratives. He admitted in later years that because of his work and traveling he gradually let his collecting go but would always in the years that followed promote the art of stamp collecting at every opportunity. |
| 7 | His wife Donna was a stand-in for Yvonne De Carlo in The Munsters (1964). Her brother was the stuntman Phil Adams. |
| 8 | Although he played Kirk Douglas' father in The Vikings (1958), he was six weeks his junior in real life. He also played Tony Curtis' father in the same film in spite of being only eight years his senior. |
| 9 | Longtime friend of Adam West. |
| 10 | He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: From Here to Eternity (1953) and Marty (1955). |
| 11 | His younger sister, Evelyn Borgnine Velardi, lived in San Bernardino, California. |
| 12 | His grandfather had been the financial adviser to King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. |
| 13 | Had attended Yale University, where he majored in math, and hated it, therefore, he transferred to the Randall School of Dramatic Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, who went on the GI Bill of Rights. |
| 14 | Though he occasionally feuded with Mickey Rooney, they were also great friends and worked together many times over the years, notably in Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart (1994), the movie's screenplay written by Mickey Rooney, and Night Club (2011). In Hollywood on the evening of July 9 2012 was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the filming of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) hosted by Billy Crystal featuring many of the movie's cast and crew. Ernest Borgnine had passed away the day before and Mickey Rooney went on stage that evening, mentioned this fact and asked the audience for a moments silence in remembrance. This event was filmed and later released as The Last 70mm Film Festival (2014). |
| 15 | Was the longtime friend of Henry Colman. Borgnine met him at a stage theater in Abington, Virginia. |
| 16 | His parents legally changed his name from Ermes Effron Borgnino to Ernest Borgnine, to alternate different last letters of his name. |
| 17 | At age 91 he wrote an autobiography, "Ernie", which is a loose, conversational recollection of highlights from his acting career and notable events from his personal life. |
| 18 | On McHale's Navy (1962), his character spoke Italian, as Borgnine did in real-life. |
| 19 | Was friends with McHale's Navy (1962) castmate Gavin MacLeod for 50 years, from 1962-2012. |
| 20 | Borgnine was named the Veterans Foundation's Veteran of the Year. [7 December 2000]. |
| 21 | His mother, Anna (Boselli) Borgnine, wanted him to be named after Hermes from Greek mythology. His father, Charles Borgnino, wanted his son to be named Effron. |
| 22 | He took and graduated from acting studies, auditioned, and was accepted as an intern to the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. The theater got its name from the director's practice of allowing audiences to barter produce for admission during the cash-lean years of the Great Depression. |
| 23 | In 1997, he was the commencement speaker at Lakeland College, and received an honorary doctorate in humane letters in recognition of his distinguished acting career. |
| 24 | Almost a year after his death his sister, Evelyn Borgnine Velardi, died in 2013, just 17 days short of what would've been her 88th birthday. |
| 25 | Was physically healthy and physically active until his death at age 95. |
| 26 | Until 1962, he was a heavy smoker. He quit that year, and became a militant anti-smoker. |
| 27 | In 1962, he was the last actor to have joined the ranks of other sitcom male lead stars, such as John Forsythe, Andy Griffith, Danny Thomas, Alan Young, Robert Young, Fred MacMurray and Buddy Ebsen (whose sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), debuted just two weeks before Borgnine's) to star in his own popular sitcom, McHale's Navy (1962). |
| 28 | Resided in Los Angeles, CA, for over 60 years, from 1951-2012. |
| 29 | In 1996 Borgnine toured the US on a bus to meet his fans and see the country. The trip was the subject of a 1997 documentary, Ernest Borgnine on the Bus (1997). |
| 30 | Long lives ran in his family. |
| 31 | In 2000 he received his 50-year pin as a Freemason in Abingdon Lodge #48, Abingdon, VA. |
| 32 | Survived by 4 children, 1 wife and 1 sister. |
| 33 | He returned to his parents' house in Connecticut after his Navy discharge without a job to go back to and no direction. |
| 34 | According to The Single Guy (1995) series' lead, Jonathan Silverman, Borgnine came to work with more energy and passion than all other stars combined. He was the first person to arrive on the set every day and the last to leave. |
| 35 | His parents separated when he was two years old, and he and his mother lived in Italy for about 4-1/2 years. |
| 36 | While resting between takes in his dressing room during the filming of Three Brave Men (1956) on the Twentieth Century-Fox lot, he received a visit from Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, presenting him with an armful of Elvis records. Elvis had heard of Ernest defending his singing while making his acting debut in Love Me Tender (1956), also filming on another soundstage on the lot--Elvis had sent the records over in appreciation but was too shy to present them himself, never getting past the dressing room door. Ernest said, "Well, we'll have to do something about that", telling Parker to make sure Elvis stopped by the following day. When Elvis eventually did come by, he could hear his record "Hound Dog" blaring out from the room and painted on the dressing room door were the words "Elvis Borgnine". |
| 37 | After the success of RED (2010), his final Hollywood studio film, he always held out hope he'd be around to reprise his role as Henry the records keeper in the 2013 sequel. When interviewed in April 2012, he mentioned there was talk about it over the years and made one request to the producers: "I told them if they do it, I want to carry a gun this time". He kept in touch with screenwriters Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber and, in the end, would have had a major role in a sequence at the start of the movie. When he passed away three months prior to the start of production, his scenes were reconfigured and would feature an uncredited Titus Welliver. |
| 38 | He was one of the few overseas guests to be invited twice to Australia's main television industry awards, the TV Week Logie Awards, in March 1982 and March 1990, both ceremonies held in Melbourne. |
| 39 | Acting mentor and friend of Tim Conway. |
| 40 | On McHale's Navy (1962) he played a US Navy officer; in real life, Borgnine had been a Navy NCO. |
| 41 | Attended his best friend's Michael Landon's funeral in 1991. |
| 42 | Celebrated his 90th birthday at a local bistro in West Hollywood, CA, in 2007. Among the guests were Tim Conway; his wife, Tova Borgnine; Dennis Farina; Army Archerd; Andy Granatelli' Bo Hopkins; Burt Young; Steven Bauer; his son, Cris Borgnine; his grandson, Anthony Borgnine; Debbie Reynolds; Connie Stevens; Larry Manetti; and Don Rickles, among many others. |
| 43 | His parents were Charles B. Borgnino and Anna (Boselli) Borgnine, who was an Italian countess. |
| 44 | His family moved to New Haven, CT, in 1923 when he was six. |
| 45 | His parents were immigrants from Italy. |
| 46 | Ernest Borgnine passed away on July 8, 2012. Just before his death, he appeared in his final film: The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez (2012). |
| 47 | Graduated from James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut in 1935. |
| 48 | His idols when he was very young were Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey. |
| 49 | Was the producers' first choice for the lead role in McHale's Navy (1962). |
| 50 | Guest starred in the last two episodes of the medical drama ER (1994). |
| 51 | In a video interview on the Screen Actors Guild website, in association with his 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, he was asked by members of Facebook what actor he would have loved to have worked with, but hadn't until that time. He mentioned only one: Peter O'Toole, stating he'd been friends with him for years and that O'Toole had a wonderful attitude he'd always admired. On July 10, 2012, two days after Ernest Borgnine's death, Peter O'Toole announced his retirement from acting. |
| 52 | He was the only movie star to appear in 3D movies from both the Golden Age in the 1950s (The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) and The Bounty Hunter (1954)) and the format's revival in the 2010s (one his last movies, The Lion of Judah (2011)). |
| 53 | Ernest Borgnine passed away on July 8, 2012, at age 95, and within three months of four other television legends, who were also born in 1917, either aged 94 or 95: Ann Rutherford, Celeste Holm, Phyllis Diller and Herbert Lom; and only five days after Andy Griffith, born in 1926. |
| 54 | He was one of the main influences for George Lucas in creating the character Dexter Jettster for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). |
| 55 | Borgnine's film career spanned 61 years, from 1951 through to 2012, his first leading role was his Oscar winning performance in Marty (1955), his last leading role was at age 95 in The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez (2012). |
| 56 | Upon his death, he was cremated and his ashes given to his family. |
| 57 | He once said he was considering making the navy a career, and his mother talked him into becoming an actor. |
| 58 | Alongside Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, Angela Lansbury, Mickey Rooney, Betty White, Dick Van Dyke, Edward Asner, Celeste Holm, Christopher Lee, Adam West, Marla Gibbs, William Shatner, Larry Hagman, Florence Henderson, Shirley Jones and Alan Alda, Borgnine was one of the few screen actors who lived into their 80s and/or 90s without ever either retiring from acting or having stopped getting work. |
| 59 | He was to have played the lead in the first feature film ever directed by Ridley Scott. It was to be a Canadian heist movie titled "Ronnie and Leo", co-starring Michael York and was to have been filmed in August 1974. Both stars were attached to the project along with nearly $1.7 million in financing and the picture actually came close to being made, but in the end it fell through. |
| 60 | He won the 1955 Academy Award as Best Actor for Marty (1955), his first and only nomination for an Oscar. He was also nominated, and won, the Golden Globe, BAFTA (British Academy), National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle Awards for the same role. All were not only his first win, but his first and only nominations as lead actor in a theatrical film. |
| 61 | Was billed to star in Lightning, the White Stallion (1986), according to a 1984 Cannon Group publicity brochure and starring opposite Michael Winslow in the police comedy "Crimebusters", to have been released in 2008. Later that year he was part of the cast of a supernatural western in development, "Death Keeps Coming" co-starring Stella Stevens and Tony Tarantino. |
| 62 | Tortilla Flats, a restaurant in New York City, has had an obsession with him Borgnine since the mid-'80s. A booth is completely covered in his photos, and they have a yearly "Ernest Borgnine Night". Staff members are put through rigorous Borgnine trivia training when hired. While he had no involvement in the restaurant, he made occasional visits, and wore one of their shirts when filming Captiva Island (1995). |
| 63 | Winner of the Best Actor Award for Night Club (2011) at the 6th Annual Staten Island Film Festival on June 12, 2011, the Golden Door International Film Festival on October 16, 2011 and his final acting honor, Best Actor for The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez (2012) at the Newport Beach Film Festival on May 9, 2012. |
| 64 | Father-in-law of Kim Borgnine. |
| 65 | Was presented with the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award in January 2011 by Morgan Freeman and Tim Conway. |
| 66 | Before he was a successful actor, he worked in a variety of factory and warehousing jobs. |
| 67 | Was an active Republican. |
| 68 | Was very good friends with: Robert Fuller, John Smith, Alex Cord, John McIntire, Robert Horton, Shirley Jones, Angela Lansbury, John Forsythe, Jane Wyman, Gavin MacLeod, Adam West, Brian Keith, Eddie Albert, Michael Landon, Danny Thomas, Telly Savalas, Karl Malden, Carroll O'Connor, Mickey Rooney, Carl Ballantine, Bob Hastings, John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Jack Elam, Joan Rivers, Leonard Nimoy, Tony Curtis, William Holden, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Robert Conrad, Larry Manetti, Joe Mantegna, Lisa Rinna, Robert Aldrich, Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Angie Dickinson, Don Rickles, Lee Marvin, Montgomery Clift, Robert Mitchum, Christopher Lee, A.C. Lyles, Red Buttons, Bob Herron, Marty Allen, Bo Hopkins, Barbara Eden, Della Reese, Julie Adams, Piper Laurie, Tippi Hedren, Beverly Garland and George Lindsey. |
| 69 | His mother, Anna Borgnine, died in 1949, after a long battle against tuberculosis, just days before his first wedding. |
| 70 | For 30 years, between 1972 and 2002, he marched in Milwaukee's annual Great Circus Parade as the "Grand Clown". |
| 71 | His fifth wife, Tova Borgnine, was almost 25 years his junior. |
| 72 | Remained good friends with Tim Conway during and after McHale's Navy (1962). |
| 73 | According to his autobiography, "Ernie", he only has three children: Nancee Borgnine, from his first wife, Rhoda Kemins, and Sharon Borgnine and Cris Borgnine from his wife, Donna Rancourt. |
| 74 | His second ex-wife Katy Jurado, died in 2002. He referred to her as "beautiful, but a tiger". |
| 75 | He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6324 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. |
| 76 | His former McHale's Navy (1962) co-star, Tim Conway, was reunited with him in having a recurring role on SpongeBob SquarePants (1999), on separate episodes of each show. |
| 77 | Lived in the same Beverly Hills, California home that he bought in 1965. |
| 78 | Best known by the public for his starring role as the title character in McHale's Navy (1962). |
| 79 | He was the only actor to star in all four "Dirty Dozen" films. |
| 80 | In 2007 he became the first male Oscar winner for Best Actor to still be alive on his 90th birthday, and in 2012 became the first male Oscar winner for Best Actor to still be alive (and working) on his 95th birthday. |
| 81 | He received California's highest civilian honor, the California Commendation Medal. It was presented to him on the set of A Grandpa for Christmas (2007) by Maj. Gen. William H. Wade II, Adjutant General and Commander of the California National Guard, for a lifetime of exceptionally meritorious service as well as recognizing Borgnine's "heartfelt advocacy on behalf of military personnel and veterans on many fronts, including the California National Guard". [5 February 2007]. |
| 82 | He was given a standing ovation when introduced at the National Italian American Foundation's salute to the Academy Awards, which was celebrating 78 years of Italian-American Oscar winners and nominees. Former Motion Picture Producers Association of America chief Jack Valenti co-chaired the dinner, and Italian-Americans in attendance included Connie Stevens, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia and Al Martino as well as Italian actor Franco Nero. [3 March 2006]. |
| 83 | Made a special Academy Awards appearance in 1998, at the The 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998), and in 2005 at the The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) and participated in the Oscar Winners Tribute sequence along with other Academy Award winners. |
| 84 | Father of Sharon Borgnine (born August 5th 1965), Cris Borgnine (born August 9th 1969) and Diana Rancourt-Borgnine (born December 29th 1970) with Donna Rancourt. Daughter Nancee Borgnine (aka Gina Kemins-Borgnine) (born August 18th 1952) with Rhoda Kemins. |
| 85 | Twice-wed Borgnine married thrice-wed Broadway diva Ethel Merman in 1964. Their marriage was dissolved after 32 days. They had announced their impending nuptials at the legendary New York night spot P.J. Clarke's, but Borgnine, who was riding high as the star of McHale's Navy (1962) at the time, said the marriage began unraveling on their honeymoon, when he received more fan attention than she did. The competitive Merman was left seething. "By the time we got home, it was hell on earth," Borgnine recalled in a 2001 interview. "And after 32 days I said to her, 'Madam, bye.'" Borgnine went on to marry a third time, but Merman remained single after her divorce. In her 1978 biography, she devoted a chapter of her autobiography to the marriage: It consisted of one blank page. |
| 86 | Former member of the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). |
| 87 | His car licence plate is BORG9. |
| 88 | Referenced in 'Weird Al' Yankovic's song "Your Horoscope for Today". |
| 89 | Spoke fluent Italian. |
| 90 | While on location in Mexico filming Vera Cruz (1954), he and fellow cast member Charles Bronson found themselves with some extra time on their hands and decided to go to the nearest town to get some cigarettes. Still in full costume -- including bandoliers and pistols -- they mounted their horses and headed out. Along the way they were spotted by a truckful of Mexican "federales" -- federal police -- who mistook them for bandits and held them at gunpoint until their identities could be verified. |
| 91 | He was made an honorary United States Navy Chief Petty Officer by Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Terry Scott on October 15, 2004. He served in the United States Navy for ten years from 1935-1945 and left the service as a Gunner's Mate 1st Class. |
| 92 | Had the distinction of appearing in more of the 100 Most Enjoyably Awful Movies of All Time as listed in Razzie Award-founder John Wilson's book "The Official Razzie Movie Guide" than any other actor -- A total of four: The Adventurers (1970), The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)The Oscar (1966), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). |
| 93 | Was a Master Mason and had been elevated to the 33rd Degree in Scottish Rite. |
| 94 | Was an active Freemason and had been the Honorary Chairman of the Scottish Rite RiteCare Program, which sponsors 175 Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Clinics, Centers, and Programs nationwide. |
| 95 | Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1996. |
| 96 | Had periodically performed as the "Grand Clown" for The Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since the 1970s. |
| 97 | He auditioned for the lead role in Marty (1955) while shooting Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) in Lone Pine, California. |
| 98 | Was the very first "center square" on The Hollywood Squares (1965) (during its premiere week in October 1966). |
| 99 | Had both knees replaced. [1999] |
| 100 | Involved in an air crash in 1996. |
| 101 | There is an instrumental techno track called "Theme from Ernest Borgnine" by the artist Squarepusher on the album "Feed Me Weird Things" (1996, Rephlex Records UK). |
| 102 | He spent 10 years in the United States Navy prior to acting. |
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