American actor Ernest Borgnine has died in Los Angeles, aged 95. His career spanned almost seven decades.
Borgnine died at about 1pm local time on Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he had gone for a medical check-up last Tuesday, his publicist said. He had renal failure.
The actor's bulldog appearance made him a natural for tough-guy roles in films like The Wild Bunch, but he won an Oscar for playing a sensitive loner in the 1955 film Marty.
Marty was also named best picture. Director Delbert Mann and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky won Oscars as well.
Borgnine also appeared in From Here to Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Dirty Dozen, The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix and The Poseidon Adventure.
He was also well known to children as the voice of Mermaid Man in the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Borgnine also starred as a maverick World War II patrol boat skipper in the popular 1960s television comedy McHale's Navy.
He previously served in the US Navy from 1935-45.
Borgnine was married five times. His last wife, Tova, was a cosmetics entrepreneur and he appeared in ads for the facial-rejuvenating powers of a product sold by her company.
