Ernest Borgnine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917) is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–66 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine is also known for his role as Mermaid Man in the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER.

Borgnine was born in Hamden, Connecticut, the son of Anna (née Boselli), who immigrated to the United States from Carpi (Modena, Italy), and Camillo Borgnino, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ottiglio (Province of Alessandria, Italy).

His parents separated when he was two years old, and he and his mother went to live in Italy. By 1923, his parents had reconciled, and the family name was changed from Borgnino to Borgnine. The family had settled in North Haven, Connecticut, where he attended public schools. His mother also had the passion to develop her own style of dance. Anna gave her son a lot of moral support and he stood closely by her at all times.

He has one sister, Evelyn Velardi (b. 1926). His mother, Anna Borgnine, died in 1949, after a long battle against tuberculosis, just days before his first wedding.

Borgnine has been married five times. He was first married to Rhoda Kemins (1949–1958), whom he met while serving in the Navy; They had one daughter, Gina (born August 18, 1952). Then he married actress Katy Jurado (1959–1963) Borgnine once referred to his second ex-wife this way: "Beautiful, but a tiger."

He later married singer Ethel Merman (1964); the marriage barely lasted a month. Their divorce was finalised on May 25, 1965. Borgnine married Donna Rancourt (1965–1972), with whom he had a son, Christopher (born August 9, 1969) and two daughters, Sharon (born August 5, 1965) and Diana (born December 29, 1970). His fifth and current marriage is to Tova Traesnaes (February 24, 1973 to date).

Link to additional material:

• http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2012/07/09/ernest-borgnine-do-th...
  
  

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