War Movie actors who also experienced the real thing- (A list)

[rexee]

Harry Reasoner of "60 minutes" fame was a B17 crew member during WW2

[Barrett]

Can't confirm anything about Reasoner beyond he was in the army, but Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a B-17 copilot and, IIRC, his brother was killed in a Fortress.

[Gregvan]

As long as I was discussing "Hogan's Heroes,", I should have mentioned:

Werner Klemperer, who played Colonel Klink, was a German Jew whose family fled from Germany to the USA in the 1930's. He actually served in the US Army in WW II.

John Banner, who played the befuddled Sgt. Schulz, was an Austrian Jew whose family left Austria because of the Anschluss. He played several despicable Nazi roles in movies in WW II.

Both Klemperer and Banner had reservations about playing comedic Nazis in a TV series, and both were signed on only after it was promised that their characters would never succeed at anything. Thus "Hogan's Heroes" had in its cast three European Jews whose lives had been affected by the Nazis - Robert Clary obviously the most tragically.

[rexee]

My mistake, I was thinking of Andy Rooney who flew with the Eighth Air Force

[RonC]

Originally Posted by Barrett

I got no particular dog in this fight, but if Manchester said that JW inspired/suckered marines to join the Corps based on film portrayals, it's simply untrue. Duke's USMC roles were entirely postwar: Without Reservations, a romantic comedy (1946), Sands of Iwo (1949) and Flying Leathernecks (1951). He made 15 films 1942-45 and only five were military: Flying Tigers and Reunion in France (1942), Fighting Seabees (1944) with Back to Bataan (army) and They Were Expendable (1945, with J Ford.) Most of the others were westerns.

Methinks that Manchester might have had an Agenda.

My apologies. The statement I related from Manchester is paraphrased, and I did not do it particularly well. Manchester did not insinuate that John Wayne enticed the young men to enlist. Many did try to emulate his 'tough guy' screen image.

Ron

[Barrett]

Hi guys:

Ref. Andy Rooney, he was a Stars & Stripes reporter who accompanied some 8th AF bombing missions. Easy to understand the confusion about aircrew status, a lot like Walter Matthau who's been listed as "Jimmy Stewart's radio operator." Actually WM was a ground-based crypto guy in the same bomb group. It's not certain that they ever met.

[Barrett]

Originally Posted by RonC

My apologies. The statement I related from Manchester is paraphrased, and I did not do it particularly well. Manchester did not insinuate that John Wayne enticed the young men to enlist. Many did try to emulate his 'tough guy' screen image.

Ron

That makes more sense, Ron. However, in those days there were bigger Hollywood toughies than The Duke: Bogie, Cagney, Coop, Randy Scott, and even Eddie G Robinson. More & more it seems that Manchester just didn't like JW's politics.

[buzz1941]

Don't forget Robert Taylor, who was a Navy flight instructor and directed training films.

I met Ernest Borgnine last year and we chatted about his navy career. He had actually gotten out before the war started, and was recalled.

Also, producer Meriam "King Kong" Cooper, who flew with Poland's Kosciuszko Squadron.

And Ronald Reagan, who fought in many battles. On back lots.

[Barrett]

Interesting thing about Reagan: he had a prewar reserve commission in the cavalry (as in: hosses) but during the war served in the Army Air Forces film unit.

[mike_baram]

Reagan wanted a combat role but his eyesight was so bad the recruiter said he'd probably wind up shooting our own guys, so they put him where they felt he could do some good...

Thus "Hogan's Heroes" had in its cast three European Jews whose lives had been affected by the Nazis - Robert Clary obviously the most tragically.

Make that 4....Leon Askin (Aschkenasy), who played General Burkhalter.

Leon Askin (September 18, 1907 – June 3, 2005) was an Austrian actor.

Askin was born Leon Aschkenasy into a Jewish family in Vienna, the son of Malvine (Susman) and Samuel Aschkenazy.[1] Askin already wanted to be an actor as a child. His dream came true, and in the 1930s he worked as a cabaret artist and director at the "ABC Theatre" in Vienna: in this position he also helped the career of the writer Jura Soyfer get off the ground in 1935. As a highly versatile stage actor, he was well-known as "the man of a thousand faces."

Persecuted by the Nazis, Askin escaped to the United States via France, arriving in New York in 1940 with no money and less than a basic knowledge of English. When the U.S. entered the Second World War Askin joined the U.S. Army. While serving in the military he learned that his parents had been killed at Treblinka extermination camp.

After the war, Askin went to Hollywood, invariably portraying foreign characters who speak English with a strong accent. Fans of the TV series Adventures of Superman recall his portrayals of an eastern European diamond smuggler in a black-and-white episode, and as a South American prime minister in a color episode. He gained wide recognition and popularity by appearing as the stern General Albert Burkhalter in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes in the late 1960s.

Though known to audiences primarily for his film and television work, Askin was extremely active in theater, both as an actor and a director.

As opposed to some other exiled Austrians, Askin never refused to work again in his home country. In fact, in 1994 he permanently took up residence in Vienna, where he remained active until his death, in cabaret as well as the Volksoper and Festwochen. He was awarded Vienna's Gold Medal of Honor.

Askin died on June 3, 2005 in Vienna. He was 97.