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Ernest Borgnine: (January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning an Oscar in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine was 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 joined the United States Navy in 1935, after graduation from James Hillhouse High School[5] in New Haven, Connecticut. He was discharged in 1941, re-enlisted when the United States entered World War II, and served until 1945 (a total of ten years), reaching the rate of gunner's mate 1st class.

In 1951, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he eventually received his big break in From Here to Eternity (1953), playing the sadistic Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, who beats a stockade prisoner in his charge, Angelo Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra). Borgnine built a reputation as a dependable character actor and appeared in early film roles as villains, including movies like Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz and Bad Day at Black Rock. But in 1955, the actor starred as a warm-hearted butcher in Marty, the film version of the television play of the same name, which gained him an Academy Award for Best Actor over Frank Sinatra, James Dean (who had died by the time of the ceremony), and former best actor winners Spencer Tracy and James Cagney.

Borgnine's film career continued successfully through the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s, including Emperor of the North, The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, The Poseidon Adventure, The Black Hole and Escape from New York. One of his most famous roles became that of Dutch, a member of The Wild Bunch in the 1969 Western classic from director Sam Peckinpah.

Ernest was as a voice actor in SpongeBob SquarePants on television, he voiced the part of Mermaid Man (Old) from 1999-2012.

Borgnine died of renal failure on July 8, 2012, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, California. His wife and children were at his side. Borgnine was 95 years old.