Ernest Borgnine Death

Actor Ernest Borgnine has died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 95, leaving generations of fans to mourn the death of the legendary film and television superstar.

Ernest Borgnine's cause of death was renal failure (kidney failure) or a decrease in glomerular filtration rate.

Ernest Borgnine was the star of From Here to Eternity, Marty, Vera Cruz, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Oscar, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, Willard, The Poseidon Adventure, Convoy, The Black Hole, Escape from New York and the classic Jesus of Nazareth.

During a seven-decade Hollywood acting career, Ernest Borgnine also found success on television, starring on "McHale's Navy," "Future Cop," "Airwolf," "The Single Guy," "SpongeBob SquarePants" and the Hallmark classic "A Grandpa for Christmas."

Ermes Effron Borgnino was born on January 24, 1917 to Italian-American immigrants.  After a decade-long career in the U.S. Navy, Borgnine studied at the Randall School of Dramatic Art on the GI Bill.

After graduation, the young thespian completed his acting internship on the road with a touring theatre company.  Soon after landing acting roles on Broadway, Ernest Borgnine moved to L.A. and made his film debut in 1951.

Borgnine acted in 115 Hollywood movies before receiving the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2011.  Most actors in their 90s would have retired at that point, but not the unstoppable Ernest Borgnine.

Borgnine, an Academy Award winner, Golden Globe winner and BAFTA Award winner, was driven to star in one last movie in 2012, The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez.

In this final film of his life, Ernest Borgnine plays an old man bitter about never attaining fame.  After a stroke, he lives in a nursing home staffed by Latino immigrants, whom he does not get along with.  Once the Latinos discover that he once shook hands with Mexican megastar Vicente Fernandez, they treat him like the star he always wanted to be.

According to the reviews, actor Ernest Borgnine went out on top with a show-stopping performance in the emotionally-moving film.  His biggest fan remains actor and comedian Tim Conway, Borgnine's best friend of 50 years, who is devastated.

"On the day I die, I'd like to have a newspaper publish all the things that I find wrong in the United States today," Borgnine had declared. "And my first would be to get rid of the politicians."

The legendary actor is survived by his wife of 39 years, cosmetics mogul Tova Borgnine, along with children, grandchildren, friends and fans who mourn the death of Ernest Borgnine.

Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012