‘Marty’ made Borgnine a star but his villains made him the fans’ favourite

Film star Ernest Borgnine, who has died at the age of 95, was best known for villainous roles, despite winning best actor Oscar for playing against type as a lovesick butcher in Marty.

Television fans loved Borgnine as the scheming officer in the TV comedy McHale’s Navy. He was also known as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in From Here To Eternity and one of the thugs who menaces Spencer Tracy in Bad Day At Black Rock.

Then came Marty, a low-budget film based on a Paddy Chayefsky television play that starred Rod Steiger. Borgnine played a 34-year-old butcher who fears he is so unattractive he will never find romance. Then, at a dance, he meets a girl with the same fear.