# Any actor played roles in all 4 armed services? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873 "2012-04-25T02:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/21 "2012-04-25T05:37:57Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > James Stewart has played Navy (_Navy Blue and Gold_), Army _and_ Army Air Force (_The Glenn Miller Story_), and Air Force (_Strategic Air Command_). He also served in USAAF during WWII, making Colonel. He served in the Air Force Reserves, retiring at Brigadier General; and was promoted by Reagan to Major General after retirement. So he played characters in the Army, Navy and Air Force; and served in the Army and Air Force. And Glenn Ford played roles as Army, Navy and Air Force. He served as enlisted Marine Corps during WWII and post war as Navy Reserve, retiring as Captain. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/22 "2012-04-25T05:39:58Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > **Five.** There are five armed services in the US. You left out the Coast Guard. Kevin Costner did a (horrible) film as a Coast Guard swimmer (and please note I am **not admitting** I watched it), so maybe someone (_certainly not me_) can dredge up some other films he did that might make him “win the thread”. I’d rather pluck my eyes out with a latch-hook tool. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/23 "2012-04-25T05:42:24Z")
Charlie Sheen almost makes it: \*\*Platoon \*\*(Army), \*\*Navy SEALS \*\*(Navy) and **Hot Shots!** (Air Farce). I don’t see much of a chance he’ll ever play a marine, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/24 "2012-04-25T05:44:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Charlie Sheen almost makes it… I don’t see much of a chance he’ll ever play a marine, though. Maybe The Secret Service? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/25 "2012-04-25T05:55:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Charlie Sheen almost makes it: \*\*Platoon \*\*(Army), \*\*Navy SEALS \*\*(Navy) and **Hot Shots!** (Air Farce). I don’t see much of a chance he’ll ever play a marine, though. Why not? Katy Perry did. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/26 "2012-04-25T07:29:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Kevin Costner did a (horrible) film as a Coast Guard swimmer (and please note I am **not admitting** I watched it), so maybe someone (_certainly not me_) can dredge up some other films he did that might make him “win the thread”. Army: _Dances with Wolves_ Navy: _No Way Out_ Army Air Corps: “The Mission” episode of _Amazing Stories_ He also played a Vietnam veteran in _The War_ but I can’t find what service his character was in. But if he was a Marine, we may have a winner. The movie’s been posted on YouTube if anyone’s willing to take one for the team and watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/27 "2012-04-25T07:37:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Charlie Sheen almost makes it: \*\*Platoon \*\*(Army), \*\*Navy SEALS \*\*(Navy) and **Hot Shots!** (Air Farce). I don’t see much of a chance he’ll ever play a marine, though. _Hot Shots!_ was the Navy. Said so right on the planes “THE NAVY”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/28 "2012-04-25T07:47:02Z")
Dennis Quaid might be in the running. Coast Guard: _Yours, Mine and Ours_ Army: _G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra_ (At least I think his character was an Army general. If not, he was an uncredited extra in _Stripes_.) Air Force: _The Right Stuff_ Navy: _Innerspace_ So all we need is a movie where he played a Marine. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/29 "2012-04-25T07:51:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Dennis Quaid might be in the running. > > Coast Guard: _Yours, Mine and Ours_ > Army: _G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra_ (At least I think his character was an Army general. If not, he was an uncredited extra in _Stripes_.) > Air Force: _The Right Stuff_ > Navy: _Innerspace_ > > So all we need is a movie where he played a Marine. Enemy Mine? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/30 "2012-04-25T08:46:44Z")
Michael Biehn’s worth mentioning… Futuristic Army in _Terminator_ Futuristic Marines in _Aliens_ Navy Seal, three different characters in three movies… No Air Force roles yet that I can find. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/31 "2012-04-25T12:13:17Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > He also served in USAAF during WWII, making Colonel. He served in the Air Force Reserves, retiring at Brigadier General; and was promoted by Reagan to Major General after retirement. So he played characters in the Army, Navy and Air Force; and served in the Army and Air Force. And in a peculiar inversion, actually played an Air Force Colonel when IRL, he was a Brigadier General. My dad and I wondered if he just kept the prop uniforms, or if he just wore his own after that movie. The brass would be the only change. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/32 "2012-04-25T12:21:29Z")
With Andy Griffith you get the Coast Guard: Onionhead (USCG) No Time for Sergeants (USAF) tv version of From Here to Eternity (Army) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/33 "2012-04-25T12:21:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Dennis Quaid might be in the running. > > Coast Guard: _Yours, Mine and Ours_ > Army: _G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra_ (At least I think his character was an Army general. If not, he was an uncredited extra in _Stripes_.) > Air Force: _The Right Stuff_ > Navy: _Innerspace_ > > So all we need is a movie where he played a Marine. According to [this,](http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Savior) he played a Marine officer – apparently on embassy duty – in _Savior_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/34 "2012-04-25T12:27:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Michael Biehn’s worth mentioning… > > Futuristic Army in _Terminator_ > Futuristic Marines in _Aliens_ > Navy Seal, three different characters in three movies… And in all five cases, either dead or severely wounded by the end of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/35 "2012-04-25T12:49:16Z")
Gordon Cooper served as an enlisted Marine, then was commissioned in the Army, then transferred to the Air Force. So Dennis Quaid might win on a technicality. Don Terry: Navy–_Don Winslow of the Navy_ Coast Guard–_Don Winslow of the Coast Guard_ Army–_Top Sergeant_ Canadian Army–_Unseen Enemy_ In _Drums of the Congo_, his character is a captain, but imdb doesn’t say what service. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/36 "2012-04-25T13:36:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > John Wayne > > Army: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Green Berets > Navy: The Wings of Eagles, They Were Expendable > Air Force: Jet Pilot > Marines: Flying Leathernecks, Sands of Iwo Jima > Merchant Marine: Blood Alley Throw in **Sea Spoilers** for the Coast Guard and you’re all set! (With bonus points for the 1st American Volunteer Group, in **Flying Tigers**!) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/37 "2012-04-25T14:09:39Z")
Robert Ryan. Army: _The Dirty Dozen_. USMC: _Flying Leathernecks_. Navy: _The Man Without A Country_. Air Corps: _Bombardier_. Coast Guard: _The Woman On The Beach_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/38 "2012-04-25T14:22:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Let’s see… Clint Eastwood… > > Marine - Heartbreak Ridge > Air Force - Firefox > Army - Where Eagles Dare > Navy - a 1955 episode of “Navy Log”, according to wiki, though his role in “Francis in the Navy” might qualify And let us not forget another famous Air Force role, [Tarantula.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048696/fullcredits#cast) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/39 "2012-04-25T14:37:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Bud Abbott and Lou Costello played Army roles (_Buck Privates_ and _Buck Privates Come Home_) and Navy guys (\* In the Navy\*). I don’t think they were in any other services, but at least they’re equals with Denzel Washington in this. There was no U.S. Air Force when Bud and Lou were at the height of their popularity. But the Air Force was originally the Army Air Corps, and there WAS an Abbott & Costello movie called\*\*\* Keep 'Em Flying\*\*\*, in which they were in the Army Air Corps. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/40 "2012-04-25T14:42:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] > Let’s see… Clint Eastwood… > > Marine - Heartbreak Ridge > Air Force - Firefox > Army - Where Eagles Dare > Navy - a 1955 episode of “Navy Log”, according to wiki, though his role in “Francis in the Navy” might qualify And let us not forget another famous Air Force role, [Tarantula.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048696/fullcredits#cast) [/QUOTE] ::shakes head ruefully:: He used to stack guys like you five feet high in Korea, use you for sandbags. For the sake of filling out what Bryan Ekers was shooting for, IMDB lists Eastwood as one of the sailors in **The Enemy Below** , which brings us to Robert Mitchum: USN: see above. Also, **Midway**. Army: **The Longest Day**. USMC: **Heaven Knows, Mister Allison**. Air Force: **The Hunters**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=3)