ACTOR
Ernest Borgnine
- Known for
- The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
78 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Ernest Borgnine is an actor best known for The Poseidon Adventure, Jesus of Nazareth and Bad Day at Black Rock.
15 Facts From Ernest Borgnine's Career
- #002
In 2007, on his 90th birthday, Ernest Borgnine became the first man to win the Best Actor Oscar to reach that age, and in 2012, on his 95th birthday, he became the first Best Actor Oscar winner to still be alive (and working) at that age.
- #003
In a video interview posted on the Screen Actors Guild website in connection with his 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, Ernest Borgnine was asked by Facebook members which actor he most wanted to work with but never had. He named only one: Peter O'Toole, saying they had been friends for years and that O'Toole had a wonderful attitude he had always admired. On July 10, 2012, two days after Borgnine's death, O'Toole announced his retirement from acting.
- #006
In January 2011, Ernest Borgnine received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, presented by Morgan Freeman and Tim Conway.
- #015
Although he and Mickey Rooney were occasionally rivals, they were also very good friends and worked together many times over the years, notably at the opening of the 50th Academy Awards (1978), in Outlaws: The Legend of O. B. Taggart (1995), whose screenplay was written by Rooney, and in Night Club (2011). On the evening of 9 July 2012 in Hollywood, a 50th-anniversary celebration of the filming of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) was held with many of the film's cast and crew, hosted by Billy Crystal. Ernest had died the previous day, and that evening Rooney took the stage, acknowledged this fact and asked the audience to observe a moment of silence. The event was filmed and later released as The Last 70mm Film Festival (2014).
- #024
At the age of 91 he wrote an autobiography titled "Ernie," a loose, conversational memoir of the key moments in his acting career and the important events of his personal life.
- #025
He won the 1955 Oscar for Best Actor for Marty (1955), his first and only Oscar nomination. He was also nominated for and won the Golden Globe, BAFTA (British Academy), National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle Awards for the same role. All of these were not only his first wins but also his first and only nominations as a lead actor in a theatrical film.
- #026
He was the only film star to appear in 3D films both from the Golden Age of the 1950s (The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) and The Bounty Hunter (1954)) and from the format's revival in the 2010s (one of his last films, The Lion of Judah (2011)).
- #033
On March 3, 2006, Ernest Borgnine received a standing ovation when he was introduced at the National Italian American Foundation's salute to the Academy Awards, celebrating the 78th year of Italian-American Oscar winners and nominees. The dinner, co-chaired by former Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti, was attended by Italian-Americans as well as Connie Stevens, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia and Al Martino, along with Italian actor Franco Nero.
- #057
On June 12, 2011, he won the Best Actor award at the 6th Staten Island Film Festival for Night Club (2011); on October 16, 2011, he won Best Actor at the Golden Door International Film Festival; and on May 9, 2012, he won his final acting award, Best Actor at the Newport Beach Film Festival, for The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez (2012).
- #058
Ernest Borgnine was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6324 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.
- #059
His marriage to Tony-winning Broadway legend Ethel Merman in 1964 lasted less than five months and became fodder for many stand-up comedians' routines.
- #060
Within only ten years, Ernest Borgnine went from his first acting work to winning the Oscar for Best Actor.
- #062
Ernest Borgnine made a special Oscars appearance at the 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998) and the 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003), joining the Oscar Winners Tribute sequence alongside other Oscar winners.
- #065
Ernest Borgnine appeared in two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: From Here to Eternity (1953) and Marty (1955). Both films won the award in the category.
- #071
Ernest Borgnine was the commencement speaker at Lakeland College in 1997 and received an honorary doctorate in humane letters for his distinguished acting career.
Continue through the archive
Bad Day at Black Rockas Coley Trimble- The Poseidon Adventureas Rogo
- The Flight of the Phoenixas Trucker Cobb
- The Black Holeas Harry Booth
- The Vikingsas Ragnar
- All Quiet on the Western Frontas Stanislaus Katczinsky
- Deadly Blessingas Isaiah Schmidt
- Airwolfas Dominic Santini
- Jesus of Nazarethas The Centurion
- McHale's Navyas Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale
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