Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie

As Rob posted, Ernest Borgnine died today at 95. From Marty to SpongeBob SquarePants, McHale's Navy to From Here To Eternity, Borgnine had a fantastic and fantastically-diverse career. For Rob, Borgnine was Dominic Santini from Airwolf. But my favorite Borgnine role will always be the gleeful Cabbie in Escape from New York (1981).

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And all hopes for an Airwolf sequel were dashed.
- Preston Sturges
  
  And Jan Michael Vincent became a withered toothless wino only a couple years later.
Stephen Marts

He’ll always be my Duke of New York A#1.
- http://twitter.com/digitalArtform Joseph Francis
  
  He’ll always STOP A#1 from riding to Portland on his watch.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jn-ZS7g8xs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

Never a star (well, with the notable exception of “Marty”), but a good, hard-working actor who left behind a huge body of fine work.
- Preston Sturges
  
  Apparently Marty almost didn’t get made and then almost didn’t get released for a couple years. It forget if it was contractual, or politics, or taxes. It was just a movie about a good haearted guy with an OK job, average looks, and a slightly annoyng mother. It’s not a comedy, and nothing much happens, but you can identify with the characters.
Cowicide

I loved him in Escape from New York. Thanks for the clip.
steveboyett

If he isn’t remembered for The Wild Bunch, it’s a goddamn shame.
- Kerouac
  
  The Wild Bunch was actually the first thing I thought of.
- Preston Sturges
  
  He was also the cowboy bully in “Bad Day At Flat Rock” where he kept pushing around a one armed and old looking Spencer Tracy. During the fight he goes through a screen door that was supposed to open and he tears it off the hinges instead.
Bottle Imp

Tragically, my primary memory of him has become his performance in the cripplingly bad Laser Mission. Rest in peace Ernest, you deserved better than Laser Mission (and often got it, I’m really sorry I remember that film).
Preston Sturges

He’ll live forever in Drew and Josh Friedman’s work.
noah django

We miss you, Mr. Borgnine ;_:
mccrum

Is this the space where people are supposed to go and give Ernest Borgnine the “Andy Griffith Treatment” because he was a staunch Conservative? If so, why is it so empty?

For the record: Airwolf=Awesome. Nice work sir, we’ll miss that crazy fun and always recognizable laugh.
- Preston Sturges
  
  Andy Griffith earned his place in heaven for “A Face In The Crowd” where he played a drunken sociopath who gets a tv show as a very Glenn Beck character with the ability to sway national elections and the desire to lead his own Fascist movement.
  - mccrum
    
    I was, ah, referring to the post four days ago http://boingboing.net/2012/07/05/meet-the-legions-of-wignuts-wh.html where several of the commentators indicated that “the other side does it.”
    - Cowicide
      
      several of the commentators indicated that “the other side does it.”
      
      Using false equivalency is how they sleep at night, I suppose.
      - Preston Sturges
        
        When they aren’t proclaiming to have conquered “moral relativism.”
Over the River

He always gave over 100%. Smooth sailing Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale, stay ahead of others.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Ernest_Borgnine_McHales_Navy_1962.JPG/614px-Ernest_Borgnine_McHales_Navy_1962.JPG
SHeadius

One of my fav obscure movies of all time is “Pay or Die!” with Borgnine as officer Joeseph Petrosino battling the early 190o’s mob. Saw this movie 45 years ago as a kid at an all-night slumber party and couldn’t get my hands on a decent copy of it on DVD until a couple years ago when Warner started offering little-known classics on burned DVDs called the “Archive Collection”.

It’s amazing all the cool movies that were made over the years that nobody ever heard of. This is one.
Daneel

I know him best as Sgt. Fatso Judson in “From Here to Eternity”
Teller

Definitely FH2E, Wild Bunch and as Shep Horgan in Jubal, an xlnt Delmer Daves western.
BBNinja

Oh…that makes me a sad Panda. :/ I loved him as Mermaid Man in Spongebob Squarepants. I wonder who they will get to replace his iconic voice in future episodes.
lannielouey

Marty. It is a wonderful old movie and his best work by far. In addition, the supporting cast is fantastic. His old country Italian mother and aunt are delightful, both bun haired widows, one concerned about her son and her sister, the sourpuss. (“Someaday you gonna smile, Teresa and we gonna have a party”) I bought this movie because I love it so much. It has a story to tell about people that are considered “plain” and Marty, the middle aged, chubby bachelor butcher, couldn’t have been played by anyone else but our Ernest. ”Whenea gonna get married, Maity? A mana you age shoulda be married wid a family. You shoulda be ashamed of youself”. We will miss you, Ernest. Thanks for the memories.
unit_1421

I loved him in Convoy and Escape from New York.
- http://twitter.com/timwillsie Willi
  
  +1 for Sherriff Lyle Wallace! I love this character.
  http://youtu.be/JBcLLsI_L-0