That Guy! Glenn Morshower has all four services, as well as Secretary of Defense.
Ralph “Dick Tracy” Byrd: Army in Army Girl, Air Corps in Wings of Steel, USMC in Guadalcanal Diary – and as for leading-man roles, Duke of the Navy kinda sorta speaks for itself, much like SOS Coast Guard does.
Peter Graves has tons of Army credits; his roles run the gamut from “MP” to “Trooper”, from “Lieutenant” to “Captain” to “Major” to, well, "George Washington, even. And he picked up the USAF credit, in A STRANGER IN MY ARMS; and he picked up the USMC credit, in HOLD BACK THE NIGHT; and, in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, played Jim Phelps, who’d explicitly served in the Navy…
…and I figure we have to give him credit for that, because, c’mon, what else did he bring to the table? Their tech guy was maybe the brainiest guy on the planet, since in the '60s his computer could beat the best chess players; their muscle was maybe the strongest man on the planet, since he was a record-breaking weightlifter; and their master of disguise was maybe the best on the planet at that, since a bunch of other guys apparently weren’t running around impersonating heads of state likewise; and Jim Phelps – ordered sailors around while dressed like a submarine commander? That’s his special skill? Really? Really?
I also figure he deserves he benefit of the doubt for having served in the military in real life, sure as Dunn served under Oveur and Unger served under Dunn.
On second thought, why am I trying to count Peter Graves as having played a Navy role by dint of him playing Jim Phelps, who’d served in the Navy? Jim Phelps played a Navy role in this episode, wearing the uniform and getting addressed as per his rank insignia and so on; near as I can figure, that means Peter Graves did.
That said, how about Keenan Wynn?
Army: See Here, Private Hargrove (and What’s Next, Corporal Hargrove?)
Navy: Men of the Fighting Lady (and The Deep Six)
Air Force: Wild In The Sky
Marines: No Leave, No Love
Back in 1940, Pat O’Brien played Knute Rockne in Knute Rockne All American with young Ronald Reagan, and the last thing he said to me, “Rock,” he said, “Some time, when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they’ve got, and win just one for the Gipper.”
Decades later, it was the '80s and Reagan was the President and O’Brien was acting like it was decades earlier on Happy Days and Doc Brown woulda hadda field day.
Thing is, O’Brien was still getting movie work in the '80s, like he did in the '70s and the '60s and the '50s – and in the '40s, WWII begat plenty of military pictures, so he got the expected credits in short order: USN in The Navy Comes Through, Air Corps in Bombardier, the Army in The Iron Major, and USMC in Marine Raiders.
Anyhow, his film credits go back to the '30s, so it looks like he got all four credits before the ones I’d mentioned: he was second-billed as a USN chief petty officer to Jimmy Cagney in Here Comes The Navy; and second-billed as a USMC lieutenant to Jimmy Cagney in Devil Dogs Of The Air; and second-billed as an Army chaplain to Jimmy Cagney in The Fighting 69th; and top-billed, Air Corps, in Flight Lieutenant.
Not sure where Cagney was.
In THE COURT-MARTIAL OF BILLY MITCHELL, Gary Cooper played, well, Billy Mitchell; but Darren McGavin played Air Corps Captain Russ Peters, years after playing a Navy lieutenant in Cooper’s DISTANT DRUMS; McGavin then (a) got second billing as an Army captain when Joseph Cotten starred in THE GREAT SIOUX MASSACRE before he (b) got top billing as Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Drake in TRIBES.
Before he played a USN veteran on Gilligan’s Island, USCG veteran Alan Hale Jr played a navy lieutenant in Up Periscope. And long before that, he’d played a cadet in I Wanted Wings – and a pilot trainee in Dive Bomber – which I’m not going to count, because he played a USAF sergeant in Battle Hymn. And he fielded a USMC supporting role in To The Shores Of Tripoli, which I think we can skip, since he was Sarge in Sarge Goes To College; and he did a couple of pictures set at West Point, which we can also skip, since he played an Army sergeant in Advance To The Rear.
And I’m still surprised that he never played Little John.
With the INDEPENDENCE DAY sequel coming out this month, I realized Bill Smitrovich played USMC Lieutenant Colonel Watson in the original the year before he played US Army General Northwood in AIR FORCE ONE – and then he played USAF General Gabriel in IRON MAN before he played USN Admiral Thompson in EAGLE EYE; and along the way, he played General Taylor, the real-life CJCS in THIRTEEN DAYS.
So that’s the gamut on the big screen; and on the small screen, he was on THE EVENT playing Vice-President-Turned-Acting-President Jarvis – not long after playing would-be Acting President Al Haig, of “I Am In Control Here” fame, in THE REAGANS. (But he’ll always be Inspector Cramer, from that insanely well-cast NERO WOLFE series.)
There are five armed services.
Don’t forget the Coast Guard!
Bumping the zombie thread because I just saw an old flick with Claude Akins; and, sure enough, in between the big guy making his screen debut as an Army sergeant in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and playing an Air Force sergeant in SKYJACKED, he fielded a bunch of Navy roles (a Seaman in THE CAINE MUTINY, and a Chief Petty Officer in THE SHARKFIGHTERS, and a Lieutenant Commander in DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP) plus a Marine Corps role in FIRST TO FIGHT, and a Coast Guard role in ONIONHEAD.
Tons of other military roles – who could forget him in THE DEVIL’S BRIGADE, if nothing else? – but, for bonus points, he also played President Teddy Roosevelt.
Henry Fonda was in many military roles. I’m not sure which service. My phone won’t select the character names from imdb.
Oldest Living Graduate
Battle of the Bulge
The Longest Day
Mister Roberts
Fort Apache
Immortal Sergeant
Frank Sinatra, I believe.
How about Marine-turned-John-Wayne’s-Stunt-Double-turned-Tarzan Jock Mahoney? He got top billing as a Marine in MARINE BATTLEGROUND, and he got top billing as a Navy commander in THE LAND UNKNOWN, and he got top billing as an Army officer in CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS, and he got – well, not top billing in BATTLE HYMN, since that starred Rock Hudson as the Air Force colonel; but there’s Mahoney, as the Air Force major, featured almost as prominently on the movie’s poster.
Don’t think it’s been mentioned yet, but Kelsey Grammar was also Starfleet Captain Morgan Bateson on ST: TNG.
Peter Graves worked for the other side as “Sgt Frank Price” (real name unknown) in Stalag 17.
Both Glen Ford and Ernest Borgnine were in 1958’s Torpedo Run (Navy).
A somewhat surprising one: Mr. Drysdale, from THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, was played by Raymond Bailey – who, sure, did light comedy as the Air Force colonel at odds with Andy Griffith in NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS; but who, for the Army credit, played it straight as Brigadier General Wise in DARBY’S RANGERS, the officer James Garner needs to win over to get things up and running; and who, for the Marine Corps credit, played Major General Vandegrift in THE GALLANT HOURS, with Jimmy Cagney as Admiral Halsey; much like how, at that, Bailey played Admiral Ashton to pick up a Navy credit in UNDERWATER WARRIOR.
And before all of that, IMDB even has him in COAST GUARD as the first officer!
Hey, Waldo! What about that unknown blond guy? Oh, what’s his name?
Oh, yeah! Robert Redford! He’s gotta have at least a few of these, right?
Of course. But did he ever play a Marine?