Actors of the World War II Era

Wasn’t Mr. Rogers in there somewhere?

A few more (or should I say a few more than a few) who either left Hollywood to join, or who became actors after their service in the military. They were PATRIOTS ALL:

Don Adams (Get Smart’s Maxwell Smart): He served in the U.S. Marines in World War II and contracted malaria during the fighting on Guadalcanal island. Could you see him as a marine! Wow.

James Arnes:s saw a lot of combat action in WWII and was wounded at Anzio.

Leon Askin (Hogan’s Heroes General Burkhalter): He escaped from Nazi Germany, then joined the US Army in WWII. While serving he learned of the death of his parents in a concentration camp.

Richard Boone (Paladin – Have Gun Will Travel): He served in the US Navy after joining in 1941, and he saw combat several times.

Howard Caine (Hogan’s Heroes – Gestapo Major Hochstetter): He joined and served in the US Navy and saw action in the Pacific.

Chuck Connors (The Rifleman): He enlisted in the US Army in WWII and became a tank warfare instructor.

Tony Curtis (The Vikings, Some Like It Hot, The Defiant Ones): He served in the US Navy aboard a sub-tender in WWII and saw action in the Pacific.

Kirk Douglas (Detective Story, Spartacus, Lust For Life, The Gunfight At The OK Coral, The WarWagon): A Broadway actor at the time, he joined the US Navy in 1941 (right after the start of WWII, and he remained in service until the war’s end in 1945.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Thief of Baghdad): He was was in WWII and saw naval action at Sicily and Elba, and was supposedly a highly decorated officer.

Henry Fonda (Mr. Roberts): The father of Hanoi Jane, actually served in the US Navy during WWII.

William Holden (Stalag 17): US Army Air Force in WWII, he made training films.

Richard Jaeckel (The Dirty Dozen): He served from 1944 to 1948 in the US Navy.

George Kennedy (The Dirty Dozen): He joined the Army in WWII and saw combat action. He was in the army for 16 years before going back to show biz.

Werner Klemperer (Hogan’s Heroes – Colonel Klink): He fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1933, and later joined the US Army during WWII. I believe he saw combat, then later became an army entertainer for the troops.

Burt Lancaster (The Killers, The Crimson Pirate, From Here To Eternity): Joined the US Army before he ever was an actor. The army had him work in the USO during WWII where he was introduced to acting. Made his first film in 1946 – The Killers.

Jack Lemon (Some Like It Hot, The Odd Couple): He was in the Navy but I am not certain if during wartime.

Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple, Charade, Charlie Varrick, Grumpy Old Men) : He served during WWII in the U.S. Army Air Forces as a B-24 Liberator radioman-gunner. A great actor.

Burgess Meredith (Of Mice and Men, 4 episodes of The Twilight Zone such as The Obsolte Man, also played The Penguin in the Batman series, Grumpy Old Men, many, many film credits.): He served in the US Army during WWII. He was later blacklisted during the McCarthy era as an un-American, what a shame.

Glenn Miller (Big Band Leader – please compare his joining the service to John Wayne not having done so): According to Wikipedia – In 1942, at the peak of his civilian career, Miller decided he could better serve those in uniform by joining the war effort. At 38 years old, Miller was too old to be drafted, and first volunteered for the Navy but was told that they didn’t need his services. Miller then wrote to the Army’s Brigadier General Charles Young on August 12 1942. Miller persuaded the Army to accept him so he could in his own words, “put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts and to be placed in charge of a modernized army band.” Miller and all aboard the plane ofn which he was flying went missing, on December 15, 1944, when enroute from London to Paris to entertain US troops who had just liberated Paris. Exactly hwat happened is still a mystery, his remains, those of the others aboard the aircraft, and the aircraft itself have never been found.

Edmond O’Brien was in the Army Air Force in WWII.

Carroll O’Connor: (Stifle it Edith…) was in the US Merchant Marine during WWII.

Robert Webber (The Dirty Dozen): served in WWII and was in combat at Okinawa and Guam.

Aldo Ray: joined the US Navy and saw action as a navy frogman doing demolitions in WWII at Okinawa.

Robert Ryan (The Dirty Dozen), and avowed pacifist, joined the US Marines in 1944 and became a drill instructor.

Telly Savalas (Kojak, and The Dirty Dozen): in the US Army during WWII but I am pretty certain never saw combat.

Ronald Reagan (Hellcats Of The Navy, and Bedtime For Bonzo – and of course, president of the United States of America – the best one in my lifetime): Joined the army in 1937, and was called up for active duty in 1942 but due to nearsightedness could not serve overseas. He served his duties in the USA during WWII.

George Reeves (Look, up in the sky, its a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s Superman…) enlisted about a year and a half after Perl Harbor but was used to make army training films and the like so he did not see combat.

Don Rickles (The Dirty Dozen): joined the US Navy and served aboard the USS Cyrene for a couple of years right out of high school. This was either during or immediately after WWII. He probably saw action in WWII by my guess because he was honorably discharged in 1946, and his boat saw plenty of action.

Clint Walker (The Dirty Dozen) joined the Merchant Marine and served therein during WWII.

Dick Wilson (Mr. Whipple of ‘Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin’ commercials) Born in England, Immigrated to Canada, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served in combat missions over England. Not as well known as other actors but had at least 78 serious film credits. Of course best known as Mr. Whipple.

NOT WWII servicemen – but:

Humphrey Bogart – though not in WWII but rather in WWI – joined the US Navy.

Walter Brennan (Rio bravo and many other westerns, many other film credits, one of the all time best character actors): Served in WWI where he was reportedly wounded by Mustard Gas causing him to age prematurely.

Bob Hope – though not actually a serviceman, he spent so much of his time overseas doing USO performances for the troops that he was eventually named Honorary Veteran by the president of the USA in 1997. Ironic that draft evader Clinton gave Hope this honor. Hope was the lead act in over 60 USO show, and virtually always performed in military fatigues. He gave USO performances, to the troops in theaters of war, during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars. Where are the headliners for our troops today?

Marilyn Monroe: During WWII her husband was off in the merchant Marine, and she worked for RadioPlane where she helped produce military aircraft parts. She later was a hottie (heck she was always hot) at USO shows for our troops in Korea and I believe in Vietnam.

Spencer Tracy: Joined the US Navy in WWI.

QUESTIONABLE SERVICE:

Cary Grant (To Catch A Thief, Arsenic & Old Lace, North by Northwest): According to Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_grant: “Grant became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942 in order to defuse the scandal resulting from his failure to return to Britain to serve in the military. One British movie reviewer once wrote that British actors who had remained in Hollywood should only be photographed in Black & White, so the audience doesn’t see the yellow streak across their spines. He had in fact volunteered for service in the Royal Navy as early as 1940, but at 36 was past the then maximum enlistment age. This prompted Grant to declare that he wanted to go back to do his bit, even if it meant being a ‘Fireman’. However, certain portions of the British Government thought Grant would be more use to the war effort, if he remained in Hollywood. During the war years, Grant donated entire salaries of several movies to British war charities, and it is even rumored that Grant was working for British Intelligence, monitoring suspected Nazi sympathies amongst the Hollywood Elite. This however, has never been substantiated as records on the subject remain classified to this day. In 1946, King George VI awarded Grant with the King’s Medal for his services to Britain during hostilities.”

I would like to beleive that one of my all time favorite actors received that medal for something. maybe time will someday reveal what it was he did during WWII.

POSSIBLE BULLSHITTER EXTRAORDINAIRE:

John Wayne (The Duke) He gave a lot of lip service to conservative causes, and to patriotism, but he never enlisted in the service during WWII and was too old to be drafted at 34. He reportedly kept putting off enlistment, that he supposedly craved and repeatedly asked for, in order to do just one more film, but sooner or later the war was over. Yet many other stars of that era readily joined up even though older than him, and even though they had larger careers at that time. Yes I like his movies, and the roles he played, but he apparently, as I see him, was full of hot air and was a man of little action when it came to the real thing in true service to his country at her time of greatest need. (Please go back and re-read about Glenn Miller.)

I may be criticized for mentioning what I did about John Wayne, especially since I was never in the military service (too young for Vietnam, it virtually ended when I was 17 or 18, and I then went to college and into federal law enforcement/civil service where I am still today); but WWII was a different thing than my era when there were no major wars ongoing in which the US was a participant. I believe him to have been one of the biggest hypocrites ever on the subject of patriotism during a time when his nation needed him the most, but yes I think he was a great actor.

OUT AND OUT TRAITORS (as I see them):

Jane Fonda (Hanoi Jane) – Gave support and aid to the enemy during the Vietnam War, and actually traveled into North Vietnam to show support for North Vietnamese troops who were shooting down our aircraft and airmen. For this the rotten bitch should have been hung, then drawn and quartered before actual death.

John Kerry (Not an actor except that he tried to BS his way into the presidency. He was a presidential hopeful, and as I see him a traitorous scumbag.): He is reportedly in the North Vietnamese hall of honor or something like that for his alleged support of North Vietnam after he completed his US military service there.

The number of those who supported the war effort, and those who fought for their country goes on. It seems to out number those who did not support our nation during her greatest time of need. That greatest time of need, at least up until recent terrosist activities, was WWII.

Holy cow it took me about 3 hours of research to write this.

All the best,
Glenn B

Whoops I was right in the first place.

Thank you Glenn B. for all that hard work. It was well worth it.

I remember the first time I saw Clark Gable playing a tough Army Air Corps Colonel in “Command Decison”, and I remember thinking at the time — somewhat derisively — I wonder what he REALLY did during the War? He probably spent the whole war in Hollywood swimming pools.
Well, sometime later I found out what he’d done during the War — And boy, was I ever wrong. And I was thrilled to be so completely wrong about such a great actor.

Then I recall seeing Robert Montgomery in that great WWII movie “They Were Expendable”, where he played an heroic PT Boat Captain in the Pacific, fighting the Japs. And he looked so silly, with his skinny little legs sticking out of those oversize white Navy shorts, and I said to myself, Couldn’t they get somebody to play that role who looked a little more convincing?
Later, I found out what Robert Montgomery actually did during the war. You guessed it — he was a PT Boat Captain in the Pacific, with an excellent record of service.

Once again, I had been proven completely and utterly wrong. And, once again, I was thrilled to be so mistaken.

Honorable gentlemen. A different breed.

Thanks for reminding us of THAT America again.

Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting. I seldom get this much interaction to a post, so I figure it was worth the little effort on my part.

Ahhh yes . . .

Tennessee Ernie, bless his li’l pea-pickin’ heart.

I remember our family going to the El Monte (CA) Legion Stadium to watch a live TV performance of Cliffie Stone‘s Hometown Jamboree television show. Ernie was there along with Molly Bee and, of course, Cliffie. Although that’s a fuzzy memory from the past, who could forget Ernie Ford’s wonderful voice and lifelong faith.

Ahh – I looked at Norman Fell’s bio on Wiki – very interesting. Easily recognizable as a character actor. What I didn’t know was that he was a member of the Rat Pack.