Interesting facts about actors who were also combat warriors:

• Lewis Stone, Judge James Hardy in the Andy Hardy series of movies, was a veteran of the Spanish American War and developed an evacuation plan for Southern California during World War II.

• Walter Brennan, Grandpa Amos in the Real McCoys, was a veteran of World War I serving in the Field Artillery. He lost half his teeth due to gas exposure in France.

• Jimmy Stewart, flew 20 missions as a B-24 pilot earning two DFCs and four Air Medals. As a brigadier general, he is the highest ranking actor/warrior. He flew one B-52 combat mission in Vietnam. His stepson 1Lt Ron McLean was KIA in Vietnam.

• Lee Marvin, Liberty Valence in the Man who Shot Liberty Valence, was a marine In World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart for as he said, "I got shot in the ass" at Saipan by machine gun fire. The wound completely severed his sciatic nerve. While living the good life as an actor, he unsuccessfully tried two more times to enlist in the Marine Corps. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

• James Arness (Aurness), Marshal Dillon on Gunsmoke, was the first man off the landing craft at Anzio because of his tall frame 6'7" and his unit's wanting to know how deep the water was (it came to his waist). Ten days later he was wounded in his leg by machine gun fire.

• George Kennedy, Dragline in Cool Hand Luke, fought in the Battle of the Bulge with the 99th Division and served in Korea after the armistice. Brought to Hollywood as a military advisor, he ended up in front of the camera and won a best supporting actor for Cool Hand Luke.

• Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Inspector Erskin on The FBI, served with the 9th Infantry Division from Tunisia to the Ruhr Pocket and earned a Purple Heart.

• James Garner (Bumgarner), Maverick on Maverick, was surrounded by Koreans during the spring offensive of 1951, his company was reduced from 130 to 30 men. He survived the attack with a gunshot wound to his upper thigh, phosphorous burns and a dislocated shoulder.

• Dennis Frantz (Schlachta), Detective Sipowicz on NYPD Blues, served in both the 82nd and 101st Airborne, including a one year combat tour in Vietnam.

One of my favorites (though more of a director than actor) was Mel Brooks.

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He attended the Army Specialized Training Program conducted at the Virginia Military Institute (although not actually as a VMI cadet), and served in the United States Army as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, defusing land mines during World War II.

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Apache said:

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One of my favorites (though more of a director than actor) was Mel Brooks.

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He attended the Army Specialized Training Program conducted at the Virginia Military Institute (although not actually as a VMI cadet), and served in the United States Army as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, defusing land mines during World War II.

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Sappers

Most decorated actor as well, well the whole dang army for that matter.

Sterling Hayden, WWII Marine Captain, served with OSS in Yugoslavia. Parachuted 3 times behind German lines to coordinate resupply of Tito's guerrila forces in the Balkans.
Awarded Silver Star.

Ernest Borgnine, served almost 10 years in
U S Navy. Discharged prior to WWII, but reupped after Pearl Harbor. Was Gunner's Mate 1stClass.

Ronald Lee Ermey, USMC.

From Wikipedia:

In 1961, at age 17, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went through recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Lee_Ermey#cite_note-CMP-1][1][/url] For his first few years, he served in the aviation support field before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he was assigned from 1965 to 1967.
Ermey then served in Marine Wing Support Group 17 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Lee_Ermey#cite_note-CMP-1][1][/url] In 1968, he was ordered to Vietnam with MWSG-17, and spent 14 months in the country. The remainder of his service was on Okinawa where he was advanced to staff sergeant (E-6). He was medically discharged in 1972 because of several injuries incurred during his service.
On May 17, 2002, he received an honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) by Commandant James L. Jones, becoming the first retiree in the history of the Marines to be promoted

Neville Brand served in the US Army at the Battle of the Bulge, rank of Sgt. Awarded Silver Star and Purple Heart.

Actor John Howard, USN, awarded Navy Cross as XO of a Navy Mine Sweeper for action off Southern France and his heavily damaged ship,

Charles Durning, US Army, awarded Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

bufrilla said:

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Charles Durning, US Army, awarded Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

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He survived Malmedy if I recall correctly.

I thought the same thing. Seems like that has now been debunked.

Great thread, BQ!

Here's one many may not know, a British actor named Richard Todd, a particular favorite of mine:

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At the beginning of World War II Todd enlisted into the British Army, receiving a commission in 1941. Initially, he served in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) before joining the Parachute Regiment, being assigned to the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion as part of the British 6th Airborne Division.

On 6 June 1944, as a captain, he participated in Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings. Todd was among the first British officers to land in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. His Battalion parachuted in after the initial glider-borne forces had landed with the objective of capturing the Pegasus Bridge near Caen. During the operation he met Major John Howard on the bridge, and organized the repelling of several German counterattacks.

(As an actor Todd would later play Major Howard in the film The Longest Day.

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[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Todd#cite_note-7][/url]

Lee Marvin, Liberty Valence in the Man who Shot Liberty Valence, was a marine In World War II.

Some years back I happened upon a memoir by an Aggie, Herman Gollob, who was in the Corps in the early '50s. Gollob worked in publishing and in the movie industry for a while, and as a minor functionary for one of the movie studios, was assigned to take a contract over to Lee Marvin's house for Marvin to sign.

LA traffic was hard to navigate even in those days, and Gollob was delayed in reaching Marvin's home. When he finally rang the doorbell, Marvin greeted him with, "*******it Herman, if we'd have been late at Tarawa, we'd all be dead."

James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek)

Canadian Artillery officer. Landed at Juno Beach on D-Day. Killed Germany snipers. Wounded by friendly fire from a nervous sentry. Took 6 rounds from a Bren gun, resulting in a finger being amputated, something he hid during his acting career.

Also Denholm Elliot (Marcus Brody from Indiana Jones)

Radio mana and gunner on Brit Halifax bomber. **** down and ditched in North Sea in 1942. Spent the rest of the war as a POW

Hardy Kruger - Waffen SS. Drafted directly from the Hitler Youth into a Waffen-SS unit which saw heavy fighting against U.S Armoured Divisions. After repeated routing of the SS unit, remaining soldiers were eventually captured in Chiemsee, Germamy.

Christopher Lee - RAF. Volunteered to fight with Finish forces at the outbreak of the Finish-Russian war in 1940, before joining the RAF and serving in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Alec Guinness - Royal Navy. Part of the allied amphibious landings at Sicily and Elba, before becoming involved with the ferrying of supplies to Yugoslavian rebels in the latter stage of the war.

Micheal Caine- British Army. Rifleman in the Royal Fusiliers during the Korean War conflict. Caine was enlisted from 1952 to 1954.

David Niven - Royal Marine Commandos. Present at the Dunkirk evacuation, before later seeing combat action during Normandy. Also took part in missions behind enemy lines as a Royal Marine Commando.

Charles Bronson- USAAF - Served as a tail-gunner in 25 long-range bombing runs over Japan. Received a purple heart for wounds sustained when his B-29 was hit by anti-aircraft fire.

Clark Gable - USAAF. Was utilized as a recruitment officer and spent most of World War II at RAF base Polebrook. Gable eventually flew combat missions over Europe as a gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress. It is alleged that Adolf Hitler regarded Gable so highly that he offered a sizable award to anyone who could bring him in alive.

Eddie Albert - USN. Involved in the Battle of Tarawa during the Pacific campaigns. Awarded the Bronze Star for his exploits as a landing craft driver in Tarawa, for successfully extracting over 70 wounded allied soldiers whilst under enemy fire.

Kris Kristofferson joined the U.S. Army and attained the rank of Captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also completed Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry Division.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson#cite_note-13][13][/url] During this time, he resumed his music career and formed a band. In 1965, when his tour of duty ended, Kristofferson was given an assignment to teach English literature at West Point.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson#cite_note-14][14][/url] Instead, he decided to leave the Army and pursue songwriting.

also a rhodes scholar.

and he wrote these badass songs

dcbowers said:

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Audie Murphy was an actor, right?

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He was among the first i thought of but he became an actor because, or after, distinguishing himself on the battlefield. Maybe a bit of a different situation than OP intended?

More recently :

Rob Riggle- US Marine Corps Lt. Col retired.

Surprised chistopher Lee hasn't been mentioned

Tim Holt, western star before and after WWII, B29 Navigator in Pacific, DFC, Purple Heart.

Bryan Keith, USMC, rear turret gunner on SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers in South Pacific.

John Russell, the Lawman, Marine Lt. On Guadalcanal, contacted servere case of Malaria and eventually discharged.

Tyrone Power, Marine Captain, aviator, in South Pacific, considered to old for combat flying. Volunteered to fly cargo planes in and out of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Remained in Marine Corps Reserves through death in 1957. Promoted to major and on death at age 44, buried with full military honors.

Bert Dewayne Morris, USNavy, F6F Hellcat fighter pilot, WWII Ace (7 kills in Pacific), 4 DFC's,2 Air Medals. Flew with VF15 aboard USS Essex. Died of heart attack age 45.

Notable non War time actors
Gene Hackman USMC
Steve McQueen USMC
George C Scott USMC
Harvey Keitel USMC
Clint Eastwood USArmy
James Earl Jones, 1Lt, USArmy
Elvis Presley USArmy

Notable War time service actors:
Kirk Douglas USNavy
Henry Fonda USNavy
Paul Newman USNavy
Humphrey Bogart USNavy WWI
Ronald Reagan US Army
Clark Gable USArmy Air Corps
Gene Autry USArmy Air Corps
Art Carney USArmy, wounded at Normandy
Jackie Coogan USArmy Air Corps, Burma
Robert Ryan USMC Captain WWII
Ed McMahon, Col USMC, WWII, Korea,
Vietnam, Aviator
Glenn Ford USNavy, Captain, WWII, Korea

You mean of course Tim Holt. He was in Treasure of the Sierra Madre among others.

Toshiro Mifune - aerial photography section in the Japanese Imperial Army. You might remember his appearances in Shogun and Bushido Blade.

Just remembered another fellow who was in one of the great WWII movies, They Were Expendable, Robert Montgomery.

The movie is about the early days of the war in the Philippines, including the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor. Montgomery plays a part based on a real PT boat commander and Medal of Honor winner who captained the boat that got MacArthur and his family off Corregidor.

Montgomery had been an ambulance driver in France until Dunkirk, and when America entered the war, joined the navy, where he became a PT boat captain and participated in the Normandy landings.

Montgomery returned to Hollywood and got the part of a PT boat captain, not exactly a stretch, and wound up directing a fair amount of the film when John Ford fell and broke a leg.

Montgomery served on USS Barton, DD722 at Normandy
Not a PT Boat Captain, only in the movie.

Well, you raise an excellent question.

I saw that about the Barton, a destroyer, as well, but I have read and heard that Montgomery commanded PT boats as well. I can't remember where I heard it, but it may well have been on one of the TCM introductions to They Were Expendable, which I have seen numerous times.

Just a quick search with Google says this, though I have no idea how reliable the site is:

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Anxious to contribute to the war effort, in 1940 Montgomery made an unpublicized visit to
France, much to M-G-M's consternation, where he volunteered and drove an ambulance for
several weeks. Upon returning to the United States, he and friend and fellow actor Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr. determined to enlist in the service. Montgomery and Fairbanks applied for a
commision in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Montgomery was sent to the Intelligence Section in
the map room of the U.S. Naval Attache's office in London where he worked as an assistant.
He then returned to the U.S. where he was assigned to set up a naval operations room in
the White House.

Due to his military service, Montgomery was unable to attend the Febraruy 1942
Academy Award ceremony in which he was nominated as Best Actor for Here Comes Mr.
Jordan. The oscar that year went to Gary Cooper (for Sergeant York.)

In 1942 Montgomery saw action at Noumea, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal and New
Georgia and was operations officer aboard a destroyer during the D-day invasion of
France. He also commanded a P.T. boat in the South Pacific.

Among the military honors bestowed upon Montgomery were the Bronze Star and being
decorated as a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. Montgomery was retired from the
Navy with the rank of commander.

When Montgomery returned to the U.S. in 1944 he had a serious case of tropical fever,
but recovered enough to accept his first acting role in three years.

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http://www.earlofhollywood.com/RMbio.html



Here's another site (https://blog.togetherweserved.com/2014/09/11/lcdr-robert-montgomery-us-navy-1941-1946/)

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After World War II broke out in Europe, Montgomery enlisted in London for American field service and drove ambulances in France until the Dunkirk evacuation. Upon America' entrance into the war, Montgomery joined the U.S. Navy and served as Naval Attache on British destroyers hunting U-boats. He attended torpedo boat school, became a PT boat commander, and participated in the D-Day invasion on board a Destroyer. Montgomery served five years of active war duty, was awarded a Bronze Star, the American Defense Service Ribbon, the European Theater Ribbon with two Battle Stars, one Overseas Service Bar, and promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander.

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And another:

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Robert Montgomery (a two-time Oscar nominee, producer and director) was an ambulance driver in France in 1940, served as assistant naval attache in London, and commanded PT-107 long before making the classic 1945 film They Were Expendable. Montgomery participated in campaigns in the Solomon Islands and at Normandy where he was awarded a Bronze Star.

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http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1513

Montgomery served on USS Barton, DD722 at Normandy
Not a PT Boat Captain, only in the movie.

Ah, I did hear that Montgomery had been a PT boat captain on TCM:

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According to Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, during filming, director John Ford, a well-known taskmaster, was especially hard on Wayne, who did not serve in the armed forces. During production, Ford fell from a scaffolding and broke his leg. He turned to Montgomery who had actually commanded a PT boat to temporarily take over for him as director. Montgomery did so well that within a few years he began directing films.

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From "Trivia" on IMDb:

[url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599910][/url]

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Robert Montgomery was a real-life PT skipper in World War 2. He helped direct some of the PT sequences for the film when John Ford broke his leg three weeks into filming. Montgomery finished the film and was complimented by Ford for his work. Ford claimed he couldn't tell the difference between his footage and Montgomery's, who took no screen credit.

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Breitbart weighs in:

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Back in the states he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and over the next three years served in many capacities before finding his way to the Pacific theater, where he met John Bulkeley [the man upon whom Montgomery's role was bassed] and became his executive officer. Montgomery commanded a PT boat in many battles, and eventually headed up to Normandy as an operations officer for a destroyer squadron. While preparing for D-Day, he remembered later, "I saw Bulkeley on his PT Boat and waved to him. There was another man on the bridge with him. I had no idea then it was Jack Ford."

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