Borgnine was born in Oslo, Norway; her father was a graphic artist and her mother was a translator at the US Embassy. Following her parents' separation, she moved to the USA in with her mother, at around age 8; she didn't speak English at the time.
Career
Borgnine studied acting inManhattan, but she developed a fondness for applying makeup rather than wearing it. After marrying a New Jersey businessman in 1965, she opened her own makeup center. When the marriage failed, she moved her business to Las Vegas to be near her mother. In Las Vegas, in 1975, Borgnine learned of a cactus-based face cream made from a formula by a Mexican family and boughtworldwide distribution rights. By 1977, the revenues for her company, then called Tova9, were about $500,000; by 1981, they were nearly $2 million. In 1984, Borgnine publishedThe Tova Difference: A Promise of Lasting Beauty, with Elaine Trebek. Borgnine's perfume, Tova Signature, has been produced since 1983, and sold on QVC since 1990. By 1984, her firm had 47 employees at her offices in Beverly Hills, Calif., and factory in nearby Arcadia. By 1987, she had 65 skincare products and 80 employees. According to QVC, as of 2001 her perfumes made her "a steady presence at QVC and its biggest fragrance vendor". In 2002, QVC bought the Tova brand for a seven-figure sum; as of 2008, Tova Signature was QVC’s top-selling perfume. Borgnine was awarded the FiFi Award for the Women's Fragrance Star of the Year in 1998. Her fragrance, Tova Signature, was nominated for the 2008 Fragrance Hall of Fame FiFi Award. In June 2009, Borgnine received the Retailer of the Year award from the Fragrance Foundation, both for her innovative use of direct marketing to sell her products and for her longevity in the fragrance industry.
Personal life
Borgnine has been married twice. Her first husband was Louis A. Littleton of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972, after seven years. The couple had one son. She married Ernest Borgnine on February 24, 1973, his fifth wife. Their marriage lasted until his death at age 95 in 2012. Borgnine is the author of Being Married Happily Forever, published in 1997. Borgnine now divides her time between Beverly Hills, California, and West Chester, Pennsylvania.
