# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/121 "2016-01-25T05:43:21Z")
I think Andre Braugher (a fine actor) falls just short. SECDEF - _Salt_ Navy - _The Last Resort_ Army - _The Andromeda Strain, Soldier’s Girl, Glory, 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer_ Army Air Corps (WWII) - _The Tuskegee Airmen_ Also a civilian passenger-liner captain in _Poseidon_, but no Marine role that I can find. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/122 "2016-01-25T06:13:27Z")
An also ran would be Lee Majors SMDM, Francis Gary Powers - Air Force Just a Little Inconvenience, Ballad of Andy Crocker - Army The Norsemen - (Navy?) Primary Suspect - Police ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/123 "2016-01-25T12:28:14Z")
Hitting all four, though, is WWII vet Sterling Hayden, who was every manly man from Jim Bowie to Sir Gawain: after he was an Air Rescue officer in BATTLE TAXI, he was the USAF General in DOCTOR STRANGELOVE; a USN Commander in FLAT TOP, and a full Admiral in THE ETERNAL SEA; and an Army Captain in KANSAS PACIFIC before he was a USMC Colonel on “The Long March” on PLAYHOUSE 90. Also, it looks like he picked the wrong week to quit smoking. Oh, and Ted: that was probably the lousiest landing in the history of this airport – but there are some of us here, particularly me, who’d like to buy you a drink and shake your hand. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/124 "2016-01-25T16:11:16Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Hitting all four, though, is WWII vet Sterling Hayden… > > Also, it looks like he picked the wrong week to quit smoking. Oh, and Ted: that was probably the lousiest landing in the history of this airport – but there are some of us here, particularly me, who’d like to buy you a drink and shake your hand. You know that was Robert Stack, right? Who, incidentally, played: Army - _George Washington, Is Paris Burning?, 1941_ Navy - _John Paul Jones_ Marines - _Uncommon Valor_ U.S. Air Force - _Sabre Jet, Fighter Squadron_ …and for good measure, Royal Air Force - _Eagle Squadron_ ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/125 "2016-01-25T16:16:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You know that was Robert Stack, right? You know that was Robert Stack aping Sterling Hayden in ZERO HOUR, right? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/126 "2016-01-25T16:19:16Z")
I didn’t! Thanks. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/127 "2016-01-25T16:33:17Z")
De nada. And while I’m here: Brian Donlevy, who got nominated for an Oscar as a sergeant in GUNGA DIN, played a USMC Major in WAKE ISLAND, and an Air Corps captain in I WANTED WINGS, and an Army general in COMMAND DECISION, and a Navy Lieutenant Commander in STAND BY FOR ACTION – and, yes, even a Coast Guard Commander, in FIGHTING COAST GUARD. (Also played General Andrew Jackson, in THE REMARKABLE ANDREW. Ooh, and General Leslie Groves, of Manhattan Project fame, in THE BEGINNING OR THE END, complete with Hume Cronyn as J. Robert Oppenheimer!) ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/128 "2016-01-25T17:19:29Z")
Robert Duvall > **[Robert Duvall - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000380/)** > > Robert Duvall. Actor: The Apostle. Veteran actor and director Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, CA, to Mildred Virginia (Hart), an amateur actress, and William Howard Duvall, a career military officer who later became an... Frank Burns, Bill Kilgore, Meechum, Ike, Stalin, Col Radl, and Gen Robert E. Lee. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/129 "2016-01-25T17:42:59Z")
Lloyd Nolan won an Emmy for playing Queeg on the small screen, and bolstered that Navy role by playing USMC General Smedley Butler in a TV movie, and played lots of Army officers on various television shows after playing a USAF Debriefing Officer in a training film… …and there’s no need to bother with _any_ of that, since he earned a big-screen Navy credit as the Admiral to Rock Hudson’s sub commander in ICE STATION ZEBRA; and a big-screen USMC credit, in GUADALCANAL DIARY; and a big-screen Army credit, in BATAAN; and a big-screen Air Corps credit, in ISLAND IN THE SKY (and, for the sake of completeness, got a big-screen Air Force credit in TOWARD THE UNKNOWN). ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/130 "2016-01-25T19:14:45Z")
I’m not sure, but I’ll mention Don Rickles, also Slim Pickens. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/131 "2016-01-27T01:38:53Z")
You’d do it for Randolph Scott! USA: Capt Tom Benson, 7TH CAVALRY. USAAF: Maj ‘Buck’ Oliver, BOMBARDIER. USN: CPO ‘Bilge’ Smith, FOLLOW THE FLEET. USCG: Lt Thomas ‘Speed’ Bradshaw, COAST GUARD. USMC: GySgt ‘Dixie’ Smith, TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI. RANDOLPH SCOTT! ---
**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:** [January 28, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/132 "2016-01-28T16:34:53Z")
The current threads about classic TV lines bring to mind _“no brag, just fact”_: the catchphrase of ex-Army scout Will Sonnett, played by Walter Brennan in the '60s. Before that, Brennan had spent the 1950s playing a Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer, in **Sea Of Lost Ships** ; and an Air Force Major General, in **Wild Blue Yonder**. And before that, he played a Navy Admiral, in **Task Force** – and before _that,_ well, he won three Oscars. But before that, he played a Marine pilot, in **Flight**. And before _that_, he was in fact serving in the US Army during WWI – so I say we come full circle to give him the benefit of the doubt on qualifying as Sonnett. (And if you’re going to say no, well, then, fine; he technically played an Army role on the big screen in **West Point Of The Air**.) (And, yeah, that’s an Army Air Corps movie – but IMDB says he was playing a soldier rather than a pilot in that one.) (You know who presumably _does_ count as Air Corps for that one? Wallace Beery, who was top-billed as the flight-school instructor in full uniform; had just won an Oscar of his own not long before that, for the role he played in '31 – same year that he and Clark Gable played USN Chief Petty Officers in **Hell Divers** ; Beery went on to play Sergeant Major William Bailey of the USMC in **Salute To The Marines** , after playing Sergeant Patrick Aloysius Doan of the US Army in **The Bugle Sounds**.) ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/133 "2016-01-28T17:20:00Z")
Larry Blyden can be added to this grand list! Army - The “He Shall Have Power” episode of the Omnibus anthology/playhouse series (played Teddy Roosevelt), the “Male Call” episode of the United States Steel Hour anthology/playhouse series, and the “Like This It Means Father… Like This - Bitter… Like This - Tiger…” episode of _Route 66_ (formerly of the Army, but it counts, and most majorly in the context of the episode). Navy - _Mister Roberts_ on Broadway (was Ensign Pulver) and _Kiss Them For Me_. Air Force - The “Mutiny At 10,000 Feet” episode of _Twelve O’Clock High_. Marines - The “Two Faces Of Treason” episode of the DuPont Show Of The Week anthology/playhouse series, as well as in real life (made it to Second or First Lieutenant during World War II). Unknown, but was most likely Army or Marines: The “Sometimes You Get Rich” episode of the Playwrights '56 anthology/playhouse series (played a Sergeant). ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/134 "2016-01-28T21:53:41Z")
I thought I had one with **Kelsey Grammer** but it turns out he was only in two services: Army - Played many generals including Patton and Washington Navy - Lt. Cmdr Tom Dodge ---
**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:** [January 29, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/135 "2016-01-29T00:56:14Z")
Neville Brand – who was serving in the Army before the attack on Pearl Harbor, kept at it after WWII ended, and then attended drama school on the GI Bill – played a USMC sergeant in **Halls of Montezuma** , and a USN lieutenant in **Tora! Tora! Tora!** , and a USA major in **The Ninth Configuration** , and, of course, a downed USAAF airman in **Stalag 17** ; and fielded all kinds of other roles, as Private This or General That or Chief Petty Officer The Other Thing, when he wasn’t busy playing everyone from Al Capone to Butch Cassidy to John Wesley Hardin. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/136 "2016-01-30T03:11:03Z")
Barton MacLane played USAF in all those **I Dream Of Jeannie** episodes – which is irrelevant, since he’d already picked up the Air-Force-iest of Air Force credits on the big screen as Hap Arnold in **The Glenn Miller Story** ; the year before that, he played USCG in **Sea Of Lost Ships** ; the year before that, National Guard in **Thunderbirds** ; the year before that, an Army sergeant in **Drums Of The Deep South** ; and… …wait, that was CSA Army, not USA Army. Well, no matter; let’s go with **Bugles In The Afternoon** for the USA Army credit; and **Naughty-Cal** for the USN credit; and **Marine Raiders** for the USMC credit. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/137 "2016-01-30T16:01:56Z")
Oscar winner Edmond O’Brien was actually serving in the military during WWII, which is why he’s credited as “Sgt. Edmond O’Brien” in 1944’s **Winged Victory** ; after the war, he kept on playing Air Force (top-billed as Major Tom Hardin, in **Fighter Squadron** ) and Marine Corps (top-billed as Captain Matt Reardon, in **China Venture** ) and Navy (second-billed, as Commander Paul Stevenson in **Up Periscope** , but that’s still pretty good, since, c’mon, who can compete with James Garner?). Also got lots of Army roles: did a D-Day movie in the 1950s as a Lieutenant Colonel, and did another D-Day movie in the 1960s as a Major General; and that’s him as the high-ranking defense attorney for a court-martialed Paul Newman in **The Rack** ; and him as the Union Army officer in **The Redhead And The Cowboy** ; and so on. (Also, look at his picture on IMDb. Just [look at it!](http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0639529/) It’s like Colonel Sanders is a badass ready to quick-draw his trusty sidearm and gun down some mouthy corporal!) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/138 "2016-01-31T16:25:53Z")
Wally Cassell: Coast Guard in **Wetbacks** National Guard in **Thunderbirds** Air Force in **The Wild Blue Yonder** (and **Saigon** ) Army in **The Story of GI Joe** (and **Little Big Horn** ) Navy in **Anchors Aweigh** (and **Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo** ) Marine Corps in **Sands of Iwo Jima** (and **Salute To The Marines** ) (Maybe with a weird bonus point for **Island In The Sky** , where Cassell apparently played a guy serving in the USAAF Air Transport Command alongside John Wayne.) ---
**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:** [February 1, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/139 "2016-02-01T17:39:45Z")
Speaking of which: in **Flying Leathernecks** , Jay C. Flippen played USMC MSgt Clancy, who was outranked by the Marine officer played by John Wayne – and in **Jet Pilot** , he played USAF Maj Gen Black, who outranked the big guy’s Air Force colonel. Flippen otherwise spent the '50s playing Army sergeants in big-screen westerns before playing USN CPO Homer Nelson in the '60s on the **Ensign O’Toole** show – before, well, getting work in yet _more_ movies with John Wayne, of course. I mean, what else was he going to do? (Actual answer: _Played A Ton Of Sheriffs_.) ---
**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:** [February 3, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873/140 "2016-02-03T01:41:31Z")
Adam Baldwin was of course one of the Marines in FULL METAL JACKET, and promptly moved on to playing an Air Force major in INDEPENDENCE DAY; he then played an Army officer in THE PATRIOT, which doesn’t count because he was a damned dirty Redcoat – but he later landed the recurring role of Colonel Michael Vance on LEVERAGE before his current gig on THE LAST SHIP as Commander Mike Slattery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-actor-played-roles-in-all-4-armed-services/619873.md?page=8)