RIP Ernest Borgnine and Bon Voyage, Mermaid Man (obit)

Academy Award, Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor and producer Ernest Borgnine has died. The famed actor — and to the younger set, the ever unsteady voice of Spongebob’s elderly superhero Mermaid Man — Borgnine was 95.

The legendary actor died of renal failure at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Born Ermes Effron Borgnine on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut, USA, Borgnine is legendary — particularly among Baby Boomers who recall the TV hit McHale’s Navy.

A full filmography is included below the fold, excerpted from the IMDb Borgnine entry.

Check out this video of Borgnine discussing his high-flying decade-spanning career –and how he felt about being the voice behind the geriatric Mermaid Man, of SpongeBob SquarePants fame.

Not at all ironically, the superhero cartoon character of Mermaid Man has a side kick in Barnacle Boy, played by his McHale’s Navy sidekick, actor Tim Conway.

Here the two are in comical form, as anyone with kids and definitely all kids know so well.

Born in Camden, CT, Ernest was a first generation Italian immigrant. His birth name was Borgnino. Married five times —  including a  matrimonial stint with Ethel Merman for about 33 days in 1964 — Borgnine leaves behind four children.
 
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

We at aNewDomain.net deeply regret Borgnine’s passing and we wish his family the best at this difficult time.

Check out this list of Ernest Bornine movies, well worth watching this Friday the 13th.