THE BALLOON MAN

Borgnine treasured role in Milwaukee's Great Circus Parade
He won an Oscar, and many Wisconsin admirers
Journal Sentinel files
Ernest Borgnine waves to the crowd at the Circus Parade in this July 2011 file photo.
from:  jsonline.com
By Georgia Pabst and Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel
July 8, 2012
Ernest Borgnine, who won an Oscar for his touching performance as the lonely butcher looking for love in the 1955 movie "Marty" but who became Milwaukee's favorite clown for his many appearances leading the Great Circus Parade, died Sunday. He was 95He died of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with his wife, Tova, and children at his side, according to his longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn..

Ernest Borgnine holds a giant cupcake in Los Angeles, for the revival of the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee.
"We've lost a good friend," Jack McKeithan, the co-chair of the circus parade, said Sunday. "He only missed one year because he had to do filming on location, but his love of this community never changed."

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Sunday: "Ernie loved Milwaukee. He was generous with his time and gracious to his fans. In return, Milwaukeeans loved Ernie. He will be missed from here to eternity."

Ernest Borgnine starred in ABC-TV's "McHale's Navy" in this scene from 1963.
Credit: Associated Press

Burly, with a gap in his front teeth, Borgnine spent decades on TV and in the movies playing good guys and bad guys. In the 1960s, he became known for the TV comedy "McHale's Navy," where he played a PT boat skipper, and more recently he was the voice of Mermaid Man on "SpongeBob SquarePants."

In the 1950s he played the notable villain Fatso Judson, who beat Frank Sinatra to death in "From Here to Eternity."

He also played heavies in the films "Bad Day at Black Rock," "Johnny Guitar" and "Demetrius and the Gladiators." And he appeared in "The Dirty Dozen," "The Wild Bunch" and "The Bunch Adventure."

In 1973 he appeared in the TV movie "Portrait: Legend in Granite: The Vince Lombardi Story ."

Cast member Ernest Borgnine and his wife, Tova, arrive at a special screening of the film "Red" in 2010 in Los Angeles.
Credit: Matt Sayles

But it was his role in the low-budget movie "Marty," based on a TV play by Paddy Chayefsky, that won Borgnine an Academy Award.

For that role, Borgnine also received a Golden Globe and awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," Borgnine said in an interview in 1966. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

Ernest Borgnine poses backstage after receiving the life achievement award at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Credit: Chris Pizzello

The troubles in his personal life included four failed marriages, including his 1964 wedding to famed Broadway singer Ethel Merman that lasted less than six weeks.

But his fifth marriage, to Norwegian-born Tova Traesnaes in 1973, lasted until his death.

While he was known for his roles in the big and little screens, through the years he became one of Milwaukee's favorite sons for his faithful and repeated performances at the city's Great Circus Parade, known for its pageantry and colorful wagons brought from the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.

"He was a wonderful ambassador for Milwaukee," parade co-chair Bill Fox said Sunday. "He brought star status to the parade. He was the first celebrity we ever used, and he was terribly loyal to the parade."

Dave SaLoutos, circus parade director, said: "Milwaukee just took him to heart. The year we tried to put him in a carriage because of his knees, he only went about a block before he got out. He just wanted to see the expression on the kids' faces."