Born in Beverly Hills, California, Ernie F. Orsatti started in the film industry at the age of sixteen. His mother, Inez Gorman, was a noted opera singer. His father,
Ernie Orsatti, was a famous baseball player who played for The St. Louis Cardinals, known as "the gas house gang". He was the nephew of
Victor M. Orsatti and
Frank Orsatti and the brother of
Frank Orsatti. The surname Orsatti name has been associated with Hollywood for decades, starting with the Orsatti agency, during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood.