Ernest Borgnine was a powerhouse. Most people remember that gap-toothed grin or the way he could flip from a terrifying villain to a lovable, lonely butcher in the blink of an eye. But honestly, as the years roll by, the timeline gets a bit fuzzy for fans.
So, let's get right to it. When did Ernest Borgnine die? The legendary actor passed away on July 8, 2012. He was 95 years old, which is a hell of a run by any standard, especially in an industry that usually chews people up and spits them out by age 30. He didn't just fade away, either. He worked almost until the very end.
The Day the Legend Passed
It happened on a Sunday. Borgnine was at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His family—including his wife, Tova Traesnaes, and his children—were right there with him. His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, confirmed the news shortly after, noting that the cause of death was renal failure.
Kidney failure is a common struggle at that age, but it still felt like the end of an era. Borgnine wasn't just another actor; he was a link to the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and a guy who served ten years in the U.S. Navy before he even thought about picking up a script.
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He lived through the Great Depression, served in World War II, won an Oscar, and voiced a cartoon superhero for a generation of kids who had no idea he was a cinema heavyweight. Talk about range.
Why Ernest Borgnine Still Matters
You've probably seen him in something recently without even realizing it. Maybe it was a late-night rerun of The Dirty Dozen or an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants where he voiced Mermaid Man.
What most people get wrong about Borgnine is thinking he was just a "tough guy" actor. Sure, he played some of the nastiest villains in history. Look at From Here to Eternity (1953). His character, "Fatso" Judson, was absolutely brutal. He beat Frank Sinatra's character to death on screen. People hated him for it. Literally—he used to tell stories about people trying to pick fights with him in real life because of that role.
Then came Marty in 1955.
Basically, he played a 34-year-old butcher who thought he was too "ugly" to find love. It was the opposite of everything he’d done. He beat out Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, and James Dean for the Best Actor Oscar. That’s insane. It proved he had a soul on camera that few could match.
A Career That Refused to Quit
Borgnine sort of became the grandfather of Hollywood in his later years. While other actors his age were retired in Palm Springs, he was out here doing:
- Guest spots on ER (which earned him an Emmy nod at age 92).
- The action-comedy Red with Bruce Willis.
- Voicing Mermaid Man until 2011.
- His final film, The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez, released the year he died.
He just loved the work. He once said he didn't care if a role was ten minutes or two hours long. He just wanted to be there.
The Personal Side: Marriages and the Navy
His personal life was... colorful. You might have heard about his marriage to Ethel Merman. It lasted 32 days. Honestly, that’s barely a long vacation. Merman famously left a blank page in her autobiography titled "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine." Cold.
But he eventually found his match. He married Tova Traesnaes in 1973, and they stayed together until the day he died.
One thing he was incredibly proud of—more than the Oscar, maybe—was his Navy service. He enroled in 1935 and stayed until 1945. He left as a Petty Officer 1st Class. In 2004, the Navy actually made him an honorary Chief Petty Officer. That meant the world to him. When he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, he had a full-honors military send-off. The Navy even sent a larger-than-usual honor guard because of how much he’d done for the service over the decades.
What Really Happened With His Health?
Despite being 95, Borgnine was remarkably sharp. He had given up driving his famous bus—the "SunBum"—at age 88, but he was still walking red carpets.
The renal failure that took him wasn't a long, drawn-out public battle. It was relatively quick. He went into the hospital for a check-up a few days before he passed. He was a guy who took care of himself, too. He famously joked on Fox & Friends that the secret to his longevity was... well, a certain private habit that made the anchors blush.
Whether it was his sense of humor or his Italian genes, he stayed vibrant.
Acting Lessons from a Pro
If you're a fan or an aspiring actor, Borgnine's legacy is a goldmine. He didn't believe in "method" acting or overthinking things. He believed in listening and reacting.
- Don't be afraid to play the "ugly" guy. His career exploded when he stopped trying to be the heavy and started being human.
- Longevity is about attitude. He never turned his nose up at "small" roles or voice acting.
- Respect the craft, but don't worship it. He viewed acting as a job—a great job, but a job nonetheless.
Ernest Borgnine's death on July 8, 2012, wasn't just the loss of a celebrity; it was the loss of a certain kind of American grit. He was a sailor, a butcher (on screen), a cowboy, and a comedian.
Final Thoughts for the Fan
If you want to honor his memory, skip the trivia sites for a night. Go watch Marty. Or, if you’re feeling rowdy, put on The Wild Bunch. You’ll see exactly why, even decades after his peak, people are still asking when he passed away. He felt permanent.
To dig deeper into his life, you should check out his autobiography, Ernie. It’s a great read that sounds exactly like he’s sitting in a bar telling you stories. It covers everything from his childhood in Connecticut to the madness of 1950s Hollywood.