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Summary
War movies are often judged free-base on their accuracy , and some actors can benefit from literal - life experience serving in the military . Millions of young humanity were conscripted to fight in World War II and the Korean War , so it ’s no surprise that some of these men would after go on to become successful player . Other actors chose to fall in the military for other reason , either because they were essay a honest life or because they had a passion to serve their commonwealth . Actors from both the United States and Britain who have appeared in famous warfare moving-picture show can back up their functioning with military credentials .
Most worker who served in the military are able to draw on some facet of their experience to help their public presentation in war movies . This could intend they have a deep understanding of military discipline , or they can embrace the mannerism of citizenry they dish with . Other worker can go one step further , if their use in war pic excogitate their real - animation memory . Donald Pleasence , R. Lee Ermey and David Niven all star in movies which were very close to their own experiences of military life . But even if an actor does n’t have direct experience of the combat situations in their warfare pic , a history of military armed service always brings out an incredible carrying out .
10Sidney Poitier
The Bedford Incident (1965)
Sidney Poitier lie about his age when he was just 16 to join the army.(viaVeterans Advantage ) He enlisted in search of a better life , but his assignment at a military hospital on Long Island was extremely difficult . Poitier was attend to Dr. treating " shield - appall " affected role . Today , the medical community would refer to these patients as suffer from post - traumatic accent , but in Poitier ’s time there was very trivial understanding of the condition . Poitier found his way of life out of the situation and before long leave the armed forces . The Bedford Incidentdoesn’t often inscribe the treatment ofSidney Poitier ’s safe movies , but that ’s simply because he has so many other incredible performances .
9Clint Eastwood
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
Clint Eastwood , drafted during the Korean War , endured a skinny - expiry experience during his military service .
InHeartbreak Ridge , Clint Eastwood champion as Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway , a turbulent drill police sergeant tasked with whip a reconnaissance platoon into pattern . Like Highway , Eastwood was draft into the military machine during the Korean War . ( viaU.S. Department of Defense ) He worked as a swimming instructor and a projectionist for training videos at Fort Ord in California . Although he did n’t fight in Korea , he did endure a near - death experience during his metre in the military . He was in the microwave radar compartment of a dive bomber which crashed into the Pacific Ocean , and he and the pilot had to swim through freezing water to reach the shore .
8David Niven
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
David Niven joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst when he was 18 , and he served in the British Army for five geezerhood . ( viaImperial War Museum)He then move to Hollywood and started a successful career as an actor . He became a star in the thirties , but he drop everything and come back to the British Army when World War II broke out . Niven was involve in the D - Day landing , and he also undertook covert operations , once help a fellow thespian personate a Field Marshall to jumble German Intelligence . The Guns of Navaronefollows of a mathematical group of soldiers on a mission to penetrate a German fort in the Aegean Sea .
7Alec Guinness
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Alec Guinness was one of Britain ’s finest actors , and even play during his military calling . Guinness was called up in 1941 , and traveled to New York to receive a new landing place craft and sail it back to Britain . ( viaImperial War Museum ) Whilst in New York , he was given leave to appear in a Broadway play which ran for two weeks . He piloted the landing craft during the confederative invasion in Sicily and Anzio in Italy , and even used the vessel to deliver Yugoslav refugee from German forces . He subsequently starred inThe Bridge on the River Kwai , considered one of thebest British war movies of all metre .
6Christopher Lee
The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
Christopher Lee serve well in the Royal Air Force , decipher German ciphers , and go out front - line action across North Africa and the Middle East .
Christopher Lee is tie in with some of the greatest villains in cinema history , such as Count Dracula , Saruman inThe Lord of the Rings , and Francisco Scaramanga in theJames Bondfranchise . The Battle of the River Plategave Lee one of his earlier roles . He had n’t reached his true villainous potential yet . or else , he play a Uruguayan bar proprietor in the Second World War , so he ’s in indifferent territory . Lee enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1940 and decoded German ciphers . ( viaForces.net)He see plenty of front line of work activity too , serving across North Africa and the Middle East , and also fight at the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy .
5Gene Hackman
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Gene Hackman did n’t clear recognition as an histrion until his late 30 ’s , so he had plenty of other jobs before making it in Hollywood . When he was just 16,Hackman lie about his age to link up the Marines.(viaMilitary.com)He was stationed in China , where he worked as a radio operator , but injuries from a bike crash meant that he was discharged by the age of 20 , just before the Korean War begin . Behind Enemy Linesfeatures Hackman as a rearward admiral in the United States Navy . The movie focuses on the Bosnian War , so the events take position 40 class after Hackman ’s metre in the armed services .
4R. Lee Ermey
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Stanley Kubrick initially brought R. Lee Ermey intoFull Metal Jacketas a expert consultant , but he was so taken by his transfixing behaviour that he decided to cast him as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman . Ermey ’s military career did n’t take a traditional path . He was arrested for criminal mischief as a teen and the motor hotel gave him the choice of prison or the military.(viaThe Sydney Morning Herald ) He chose the latter , and later on ascend to the rank of drill sergeant . This is where he drew his inspiration for the quality of Hartman from . Much ofErmey ’s duologue inFull Metal Jacketwas improvised , show how much Kubrick trusted him .
3Michael Caine
Zulu (1964)
Michael Caine joined the British Army in 1952 , and one twelvemonth later he was told to choose between National Service for two long time , or fighting in the Korean War for a individual year . ( viaFusilier Museum ) Caine choose to oppose , and he soon put sail for Asia . He rail in Japan for a while before being send to the front lines in Korea , at the thirty-eighth Parallel . fortunately , Caine returned home healthy and began a career in play . He describe on his experience inA Hill in Korea , but his most famous warfare movie isZulu , which is rig approximately 75 years before Caine ’s own military calling .
2Sean Connery
The Hill (1965)
James Bond is the Royal Navy ’s most famous fabricated commanding officer , and Sean Connery had Naval experience days before becoming 007 . When he passed forth in 2020 , theMinistry of Defense tweetedabout his time as a sailor onboard HMS Formidable . Connery join the Navy in 1946 when he was just 16 , and he serve for three year before a duodenal ulceration bring an final stage to his time in the Navy . InThe Hill , Connery plays an X - Sergeant Major in a British military prison . His character forever clashes with dominance , which reflects Connery ’s own recollection of his metre in the Royal Navy .
1Donald Pleasence
The Great Escape (1963)
Donald Pleasence was a scrupulous protester at the outbreak of World War II , but he changed his stance when German bomb began to fall on London , and shortly join the Royal Air Force . ( viaWar History Online)Pleasence once say " As an aeronaut , I was rather successful , right up to the point I was shot down . " After his plane was gunned down over France , he was captured and sent to a German P.O.W. camp , just like his character reference inThe Great Escape . ArguablySteve McQueen ’s best movie , The Great Escapeis a nuanced approach to the war genre , more about character relationships than oculus - popping military action .
Several other role player fromThe Great Escapewere able-bodied to draw on their military experience . Richard Attenborough was also in the RAF , Hannes Messemer escaped a Russian P.O.W. camp , and Steve McQueen served in the U.S. Marine Corps .
Sources : Veterans Advantage , U.S. Department of Defence , Imperial War Museum , Forces.net , Military.com , The Sydney Morning Herald , Fusilier Museum , Ministry of Defense ( via Twitter),War History Online .
