# Great "one off" acting performances

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 28, 2019, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653 "2019-03-28T08:03:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653/61 "2019-03-31T16:03:08Z")

</div>

Drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653/62 "2019-04-01T14:53:49Z")

</div>

> [@diggerwam](#):
>
> Drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket.

Not exactly a one-off or even first-time performance: [R. Lee Ermey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000388/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (who died almost exactly a year ago, age 74) had 61 acting credits in an acting career that spanned more than 30 years. He had in fact been a Marine sergeant, and had appeared in four films before Kubrick hired him as a military advisor on _Full Metal Jacket_. Kubrick was impressed enough to cast Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, which became his break-out role. He was somewhat type-cast as drill sergeants after that, but according to IMDb, preferred comedy roles.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653/63 "2019-04-03T20:13:02Z")

</div>

> [@commasense](#):
>
> Not exactly a one-off or even first-time performance: [R. Lee Ermey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000388/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (who died almost exactly a year ago, age 74) had 61 acting credits in an acting career that spanned more than 30 years. He had in fact been a Marine sergeant, and had appeared in four films before Kubrick hired him as a military advisor on _Full Metal Jacket_. Kubrick was impressed enough to cast Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, which became his break-out role. He was somewhat type-cast as drill sergeants after that, but according to IMDb, preferred comedy roles.

He was also (to me, anyway) the standout performance in a movie called _Switchback_, with Danny Glover and Dennis Quaid. Ermey plays a small-town lawman, and just embodies the role–in much the same way Tommy Lee Jones did in _No Country For Old Men_.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-one-off-acting-performances/831653.md?page=3)