Film and television actor Ernest Borgnine, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a lovelorn butcher in 1955's "Marty," has died at age 95, his manager said Sunday.
The thick-set, gap-toothed Borgnine built a reputation for playing heavies in early films like "From Here to Eternity" and "Bad Day at Black Rock." But he turned that reputation on its head as the shy, homely title character in "Marty," taking home the Oscar for best actor -- one of four awards the film claimed.
His manager, Lynda Bensky, said Borgnine died of kidney failure Sunday afternoon. His wife, Tova, and children were at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, she said.
"It's a very sad day," Bensky said. "The industry has lost someone great, the caliber of which we will never see again. A true icon. But more importantly, the world has lost a sage and loving man who taught us all how to 'grow young.' His infectious smile and chuckle made the world a happier place."
He was one of my favorites. :(
ReplyDeleteMiss Violet
Indeed. What an absolute, marvelous job he did in Marty! Never can get enough of this one.
ReplyDeleteI don't quite understand how it works, but according to one of my uncles (now deceased), when he was in the Army, he married the daughter (now deceased) of one of the Mafia families in New Jersey, and she was a genuine countess with her own castle in Italy.
ReplyDeleteBecause the family objected to the marriage, she lived in terror her entire married life, afraid of what the Mafia might do, and nobody in the family ever dared talk about any of this.
Anyway, because of that marriage, Ernest Borgnine allegedly is a distant relative, but just how we might be kin, I don't understand.
We also have another very famous relative, Marilyn Monroe, who is my first cousin.
As far as I know, hardly anybody in our family believes this stuff.
My father just laughed at the whole idea.
But, another cousin I met on the Internet said that all this stuff was true, so maybe there's some kinfolk who do believe it, and possibly, some of the recorded data might be accurate.
Very interesting and I hope you find out more.
ReplyDelete