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

[Barrett]

[quote=Wind In The Wires;394943]I read somewhere that Ed McMahon (Johnny Carson's sidekick) flew Wildcats during WW2 and was credited with 5 victories. QUOTE]

Trust me: Ed McMahon is not repeat not an ace. Far as I can tell he never got to combat in WW II, and his Korean War service (1953) was as a forward air controller.

He took an enormous load of verbal flak from other former/ex marines by associating with Jane fonda, let alone making a movie with her. More recently he's dug himself into a reeeeal deep financial hole.

[Pete Hill]

Hi Guys,

found a few more in my diggings.

William 'Bill' Kerr (Australia)- - I know for certain Kerr fought in the Second World War but I haven't been able to find out in which theatre or in which service. Bill Kerr achieved fame as the sidekick to UK Comedian Tony Hancock after the war but he also had a small part in 'The Dambusters' and later appeared in the Australian war films- 'Gallipoli' & 'The Lighthorsemen' and the 1985 TV mini-series 'Anzacs' in which he played General Sir John Monash.

Dale Dye (USA)- - Dye served as a US Marine Correspondent in Vietnam for 5 years, taking part in over 30 combat operations, decorated for bravery and being wounded 3 times. Dye has been primarily employed as a technical advisor and trainer of actors and extras for numerous war movies but he has also made appearences as a actor in some productions, namely 'Platoon', 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Casualties of War' along with the TV mini-series 'Band of Brothers' and Tele-feature 'Rough-Riders'. Currently working in Australia as a unit director on the mini-series- 'The Pacific War'.

Kenneth More (UK)- -served in the Royal Navy during WW2 on board the cruiser HMS Aurora and carrier HMS Victorious. War movies he appeared in included:- 'The Longest Day', 'Battle of Britain', 'Oh, what a lovely war!' and 'Sink the Bismarck'.

Also:-

# Welsh-born UK Comedian Tommy Cooper fought in WW2 with Monty's 8th Army in North Africa as a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards.

# UK actor Arthur Brough, best remembered for playing old Mr Grainger in the hit British 1970s TV comedy 'Are You Being Served?' served with the Royal Navy during WW2 and took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.

# UK actor Donald Hewlett, best remembered for playing the mild-mannered Colonel Reynolds on the hit 1970s TV sitcom 'It ain't half-hot, Mum!', served in the British Army during WW2 and was based on the Scottish isle of Orkney.

# Welsh-born movie-star Richard Burton joined the Royal air-force in 1944 and completed training as a Navigator for Bomber Command, but the war's completion and his poor eyesight prevented him seeing action (he stayed in the RAF until 1947).

# UK actor & film-star James Mason, who played General Rommel in 'The Desert Fox' and again in 'The Rats of Tobruk' and also appeared in 'The Blue Max' and 'Cross of Iron', was a conscientious objector during WW2, something which caused a rift between him and his family.

# UK stage/TV actor and comedian Jimmy Edwards served in the RAF during WW2 and flew DC-3 Dakotas on D-Day and at the Battle of Arnhem. During the latter, his plane was shot down and he received facial injuries that required plastic surgery which, for the sake of his theatricial career, he later hid behind an enormous handle-bar moustache which became his trademark. He was awarded the DFC for bravery.

#US Film Director Samuel Fuller served as a rifleman in the US Army 1st Infantry Division. He landed with the first wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th 1944. The movie he directed 'The Big Red One' (1981) which starred Lee Marvin, was loosely based on his own wartime experiences.

#UK Comedian/writer Eric Sykes trained in the RAF during WW2 and qualified as a wireless operator in bombers, but the war ended before he saw action.

#UK actor George Cole, best-known for playing the role of Arthur Daley in the hit British TV series 'Minder' during the 1970s/80s, served in the RAF during WW2. Ironically, as he once admitted, his main role was shovelling coal to heat the pilot's quarters on the airfields.

#Scottish actor Ian Bannen, who appeared in the war drama 'The Hill' and the original version of 'Flight of the Phoenix', served in the British Army during WW2.

# UK movie actor Jack Hawkins, who appeared in many war films including 'Bridge on the River Kwai', 'The Cruel Sea', 'Zulu', 'Angels One Five' and 'Waterloo', served in the British Army during WW2. Based in India with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, he was placed in command of entertainment units for the troops.

#UK movie actor Trevor Howard joined the Signal Corps for the British Army Airborne division during WW2 but was invalided out in 1943 for 'Mental Instability'. Stories of heroic deeds in combat were pure fiction, started by movie studios to garner publicity for the rising film-star. Howard appeared in 'The Way Ahead', 'The Battle of Britain', 'The Way to the Stars', 'Von Ryan's Express' and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.

# German actor Curt Jurgens, who played the U-Boat Captain in 'Enemy Below' and played the role of German officers in several other war films such as 'The Longest Day' and 'The Battle for the River Neretva', was ironically imprisoned in a concentration camp for much of WW2 as a 'political un-reliable' for his criticism of the Nazis.

#German/US actor Peter Van Eyck, who played German officers in films such as 'The Longest Day', 'The Bridge at Remagen' and 'Attack!', was born in Germany but emigrated to the USA shortly before WW2 in which he served in the US army.

Cheers, Pete

[Kreston]

USA Actor Charles Durning landed at Omaha Beach 6/6/44.

[Pete Hill]

Hi kreston,

Yes you are right. I mentioned that in the earlier part of this thread. Charles Durning landed on Omaha on D-Day and he also fought in the Ardennes Battle in December 1944 in which he was captured by the Waffen-SS. He was one of only three GIs to survive the Malmendy Massacre in which over 100 American prisoners were executed by the SS.
Interestingly, Durning guest-starred as a WW2-veteran in a recent episode of NCIS.
Another future TV star who was at D-Day was Irish-Canadian James Doohan who landed at Juno Beach on June 6th as a Lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery attached to the Third Canadian Army division. He personally accounted for 2 German snipers as his unit advanced inland. That night, he was crossing between outposts when a nervous sentry mistook him for a German and opened fire with a Bren-Gun. Doohan was hit four times in the leg, once in the chest and a sixth round took off his right middle finger. In a real-life piece of cliche, the bullet that struck his chest really did bounce off a silver cigarette-case! Despite his injuries, he later trained and flew as an Army-Recon pilot in Austers. After the war, he became an actor and is, by far, best remembered for the famous role of 'Scotty' the engineer in the Star Trek TV series. Throughout his career, Doohan always attempted to hide his missing finger and many of the shots of him on Star Trek have his hand concealed.
Pete

[jtm55]

Hi All

American actor Tyrone Power served in the Marines as a flight instructor during WWII. Also, American actor Humphrey Bogart served in the Navy during WWI. As this being my 1st post I'm unable to supply the appropriate links.

[shackleton]

Quote from a Tony Hancock website a short bio of Bill Kerr:

At the outbreak of World War 2, Bill signed up for the Air Force Reserve, working as a comic entertaining the troops in the South Pacific.

Kenneth More. I don't remember him in Battle of Britain but he did play douglas Bader in Reach for the sky. Incidentally some of the shots of him flying a Bristol Bulldog were actaully filmed using a Gloster Gladiator with townsend cowling and cockpit canopy removed.

[Ransom E. Olds]

The American actor Robert Montgomery was an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving for a time in 1944 under John D. Bulkeley, the noted PT boat commander in the Philippines in 1941-42. In John Ford's 1945 film They Were Expendable Montgomery memorably recreated Bulkeley's Philippine service as "Lt. John Brickley." Ransom

[shawnakelly]

The "Crash King" motion picture pilot, Dick Grace, and the first wing-walker in history, leading actor Lt. Ormer Locklear, both served as pilots. Grace performed all of the real crashes for the Academy Award-winning first ever Best Picture of WINGS. (Grace also broke his neck for WINGS and survived.) Locklear became an aviator actor superstar of the early 1920s, in such motion pictures as The Skywayman. Locklear served as a pilot during WWI and Grace served as a combat pilot during WW2.

[PackardPursuit]

I seem to recall a Newsweek article about Bogie's famous lisp being caused by an injury sustained durring WWI. IIRC, the article stated he was a 19 year old Navy MP escorting a chain shackled prisoner thru NY's Grand Central Station, when the prisoner asked to be un-shackled for restroom trip. Once free, the prisoner hit Bogie in the face, splitting his lip, and knocking him to the ground, then dashed to escape. The injured but cool MP is reported to have regained his feet, drew his .45, shouted at him to stop, and then dropped the fleeing escapee.

[Pete Hill]

Originally Posted by shackleton

Quote from a Tony Hancock website a short bio of Bill Kerr:

At the outbreak of World War 2, Bill signed up for the Air Force Reserve, working as a comic entertaining the troops in the South Pacific.

Kenneth More. I don't remember him in Battle of Britain but he did play douglas Bader in Reach for the sky. Incidentally some of the shots of him flying a Bristol Bulldog were actaully filmed using a Gloster Gladiator with townsend cowling and cockpit canopy removed.

Hi Shackleton,

In the Battle of Britain, Kenneth More played the RAF airfield Station Commander whose aerodrome is bombed. He's the one who berates WAAF Maggie (Susannah York) for letting her 'girls' use the men's trenches during air-raid practice. When real bombs begin falling moments later, he promptly joins Maggie and the other WAAFs in the women's trenches!
The producers of the film got into considerable trouble with preservation groups for deliberately destroying an old WW2 hangar for the air-raid scene. I think the bombing scenes were filmed at Duxford (?).
Other trivia about the Battle of Britain movie:-

# Actor Robert Shaw was required to learn how to taxi a Spitfire. On one attempt, he applied the brakes too hard and the Spitfire stood up on its nose, fortunately causing only minor damage other than the actor's ego.

# The film-makers originally converted Percival Proctor trainers to resemble Junkers 87 Stuka dive-bombers for the bombing of the Radar stations scenes. However the British Aviation authorities refused to pass them as air-worthy and the producers were forced to use the less convincing radio-controlled models that appear in the film.

# The producers had the use of fifty Merlin-engined Heinkel 111s for use in the film, leased from the Spanish air-force. However most of their scenes had to be filmed in Spain. That was because only two were allowed to be flown to England because, in 1968, the French government would not allow any more than two German bombers to be flown over their air-space. They felt that to allow any more would be an insult and an affront to the memory of their war dead.

# The real Hugh Dowding (who commanded RAF Fighter Command during the battle) was brought onto the set to meet actor Laurence Oliver who was playing him. Dowding, on seeing the reproduction of his office, commented, "my desk wasn't this tidy!". Later, Dowding is said to have wept when he viewed one of the scenes of Oliver playing him.

# Real-life German ace Adolf Galland was hired as a technical advisor. He caused some difficulties to the producers of the film by always demanding that any scenes portraying the German side be 'de-Nazified'. He angrily ran onto the set and ruined the filming of one scene when the actor playing Field-marshal Kesselring gave a Nazi salute.

# The producers had twelve air-worthy Spitfires but only three Hurricanes, at least one of which was restored in Canada specially for the film. The movie has been credited with helping to ignite interest and support for the preservation and restoration of vintage WW2 aircraft in the UK.

# To film the scene that introduces the Polish RAF squadron, the producers only had three Hurricanes, so they made up the shortfall by temporarily coating the Hispano Me-109s in RAF markings. The real Hurricanes were positioned closest to the camera with the disguised 109s further away where viewers were less likely to notice the difference.

# The film has one bit of sloppy editing. During the scene where Christopher Plummer's Spitfire squadron massacres the un-escorted Heinkels, the same footage of a burning Heinkel plunging into the sea is used twice.

# In addition to the RAF fighters, the producers amassed a small airforce totalling 50 Heinkels and 25 Messerschmitt 109s (plus a Junkers 52) either leased or purchased from the Spanish air-force which had been still using them in service up until the 1960s ! All of them were powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines with this version of the Me-109 more correctly known as the Hispano 112-Buchon.

#A number of films and TV shows have used aerial footage from this movie for their own air-combat scenes. These include movies such as 'Midway', 'Macarthur', 'Dark Blue World' & 'Force 10 from Navarone' with TV series such as 'A Piece of Cake' & 'A Perfect Hero' and even an episode of the original version of 'Battlestar Galactica' !!!!

#Upon its release in 1969, the film was a commercial failure and generally received lukewarm to poor reviews from critics. It has recooped considerable revenue since from video and dvd sales. In 2004, the new special edition dvd release made it into the top-10 selling dvds in Australia.

regards Pete