Ernest Borgnine
Template:Person Ernest "Ernie" Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012; aged 95) was the original voice actor of Mermaid Man.
Biography
He was an American actor of television and the big screen. His career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty and the war drama All Quiet on the Western Front.
On television, he is best known for playing Quinton McHale in the 1962-66 series McHale's Navy, costarring in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, and voicing the character Mermaid Man in the animated TV series SpongeBob SquarePants. Borgnine earned an Emmy nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. In August 2009, he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
He died from kidney failure on July 8, 2012, aged 95. Attenders at his funeral included several members of the United States Navy SEALs, as well as Tim Conway, and many other well-known people.
Trivia
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- SuperSponge, SpongeBob's Truth or Square, and SpongeBob's Boating Bash are the only video games where Ernest Borgnine actually does the voice of Mermaid Man. In all other video games appearances of Mermaid Man, he was voiced by Joe Whyte or Joe Alaskey.
- His and Ernesto Blindfish's names are similar ("Ernest[o] B[...]in[...]").
- "Mooncation" marks Ernest Borgnine's only physical appearance in the series before his death in 2012. Despite this, he is uncredited.
- Although, Ernest Borgnine's live-action face was originally going to appear in Squidward's cupboard in "Bubble Buddy Returns," but was ultimately scrapped.[1]
- Before his death, Ernest Borgnine's voice as Mermaid Man were done in the episodes "Super Evil Aquatic Villain Team Up is Go!" and "Patrick-Man!" which both premiered after his death.
- The film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is dedicated in Borgnine's memory, as he passed away during pre-production.
- Archival recordings of Ernest Borgnine's performance as young Mermaid Man are used in the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years episode "Putt Up or Shut Up" at the beginning when clips from "The Bad Guy Club for Villains" are shown.