# Highest military rank achieved by a later actor / TV performer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2017, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502 "2017-12-29T10:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/1 "2017-12-29T10:48:35Z")
What was the highest military rank achieved by someone who later became an actor / TV personality? Inspired by the recent thread on which actors had portrayed the most different service roles, which actor in their former life got to the highest rank before deciding to slum it in front of a camera? Some starters - [David Niven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Niven) - Lieutenant-Colonel, British Army [Mortimer Wheeler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_Wheeler) [archaeologist who was a regular panellist on a British TV show in the 1950s] - Brigadier-General, British Army [Spike Milligan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Milligan#Second_World_War) - Lance Bombardier and entertainer, British Army There’s a few IMDB lists around, but they don’t make it easy for you. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/2 "2017-12-29T11:13:35Z")
James Earl Jones was a First Lieutenant in the Army, and may be the highest-ranking officer under the OP’s strict terms. James Stewart is a bit of a cheat here; he was an established actor before WWII, was some kind of officer during the war in the Army Air Corps, and remained in the Air Force Reserve after resuming his acting career. He retired a Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/3 "2017-12-29T11:17:17Z")
Some had already achieved success in the business, and it’s hard to know to what extent that might have eased their promotion in rank (David Niven for one - [James Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart#Military_service)?) As for those who came out of the forces and into showbiz as a new venture: [Dirk Bogarde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Bogarde#War_service) - Major [Richard Todd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Todd#Service_in_the_Second_World_War) - Captain [Alec Guinness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Guinness#World_War_II) - Lieutenant RNVR [Jon Pertwee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Pertwee) - junior officer in naval intelligence [Christopher Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee#Military_service_during_the_Second_World_War) - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [Denholm Elliott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denholm_Elliott#Early_life) - RAF, but not officer rank Herbert Marshall, who lost a leg as a private in WW1, was in backstage jobs before the war and became a filmstar later. And don’t forget [Audie Murphy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy#Postwar_military_service) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/4 "2017-12-29T11:22:35Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > James Earl Jones was a First Lieutenant in the Army, and may be the highest-ranking officer under the OP’s strict terms. James Stewart is a bit of a cheat here; he was an established actor before WWII, was some kind of officer during the war in the Army Air Corps, and remained in the Air Force Reserve after resuming his acting career. He retired a Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve. I meant to specify “American.” A number of British actors achieved higher ranks. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/5 "2017-12-29T11:35:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Some had already achieved success in the business, and it’s hard to know to what extent that might have eased their promotion in rank (David Niven for one - [James Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart#Military_service)?) Hard to say. Most of the servicemen/actors IMDB mentions were enlisted men, but only a handful were famous beforehand. Elvis wasn’t exactly fast-tracked for officer training. Glenn Miller was made a captain, though. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/6 "2017-12-29T11:43:20Z")
Alan Alda, according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Alda),“was a member of the ROTC, and after graduation, he served for a year at Fort Benning, and then six months in the United States Army Reserve on a tour of duty in Korea.” This was in 1956, after the war. I assume he was a First Lieutenant, having been in ROTC, but don’t really know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/7 "2017-12-29T12:09:29Z")
Audie Murphy became a 1st lieutenant by the end of the war, then became an actor. He certainly won more awards for combat valor - Including the Medal of Honor - than any other actor. I can’t find a final rank for Neville Brand or Jack Palance, but both were highly decorated. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/8 "2017-12-29T12:45:43Z")
Christopher Lee was already mentioned but it is worth [reading through his military service, he certainly could never have been bored during WWII.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee) He was attached to the SOE in North Africa so lord alone knows what adventures that entailed. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/9 "2017-12-29T13:17:59Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > He was attached to the SOE in North Africa so lord alone knows what adventures that entailed. I remember in the commentary track for _LOTR: The Two Towers_ PJ mentioned that when they were blocking out the scene where Saruman is stabbed in the back by Grima, Lee said at one point, “Oh, no; that’s not what someone sounds like when they’re stabbed.” PJ did not pursue how he knew. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/10 "2017-12-29T13:22:54Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Christopher Lee was already mentioned but it is worth [reading through his military service, he certainly could never have been bored during WWII.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee) > > He was attached to the SOE in North Africa so lord alone knows what adventures that entailed. I misremember where I saw/read it, but I do recall that his wartime experience was of value while filmng _LoTR_ because he knew the exact sound a man (and presumably, Wizard) made when stabbed in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/11 "2017-12-29T13:58:04Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Christopher Lee was already mentioned but it is worth [reading through his military service, he certainly could never have been bored during WWII.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee) > > He was attached to the SOE in North Africa so lord alone knows what adventures that entailed. Thanks all. Great suggestions so far. Novelty Bobble’s reply reminded me that [Sterling Hayden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hayden) was also in the OSS as a lieutenant running armament into Partisan-held sections of Yugoslavia. He “received the Silver Star (for gallantry in action in the Balkans and Mediterranean; … a Bronze Arrowhead device for parachuting behind enemy lines, and a commendation from Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito.” ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/12 "2017-12-29T14:49:36Z")
Rob Riggle was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Reserves. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/13 "2017-12-29T15:38:10Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > What was the highest military rank achieved by someone who later became an actor / TV personality? > [@](#): > > [Mortimer Wheeler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_Wheeler) [archaeologist who was a regular panellist on a British TV show in the 1950s] Buzz Aldrin was a celebrity panelist on five or six episodes of TATTLETALE, and a contestant on five or six episodes of DANCING WITH THE STARS — and in between, he’d act in a TV movie, or do an episode of THE FALL GUY or PUNKY BREWSTER or whatever; is there a point where the Colonel would hit “TV personality” status? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/14 "2017-12-29T15:53:27Z")
Ed McMahon was a Marine pilot in WWII and spent the war as a flight instructor. He stayed in the Marine Reserves and flew many combat missions in Korea. He retired at the rank of Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/15 "2017-12-29T16:00:35Z")
Director John Ford ended WWII and as a Navy Captain and was later a Rear Admiral in the Navy Reserve. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/16 "2017-12-29T16:07:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Audie Murphy became a 1st lieutenant by the end of the war, then became an actor. He certainly won more awards for combat valor - Including the Medal of Honor - than any other actor. > > I can’t find a final rank for Neville Brand or Jack Palance, but both were highly decorated. Audie Murphy stayed in the Texas National Guard after the war and rose to the rank of Major. Neville Brand was a Staff Sergeant at the end of the war. For some reason his service has been greatly exaggerated over the years. There are cites that call him the third or fourth most decorated soldier in WWII. I have no idea where that came from. Certainly not him. He was very humble and did not speak often about the war. He certainly was a hero earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/17 "2017-12-29T16:14:01Z")
Glenn Ford served in the Marine Corps during World War II. After the war, he joined the Naval Reserve, and eventually retired as a Captain. > **[Glenn Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Ford)** > > Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, who had a career that lasted more than 50 years. Although he played in many genres of movies, some of his most significant roles were in the film noirs Gilda (1946) and The Big Heat (1953), and the high school angst f... ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/18 "2017-12-29T16:16:19Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > [Richard Todd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Todd#Service_in_the_Second_World_War) - Captain I love the fact that he played Major John Howard in the Longest Day. Major Howard led the glider attack of Pegasus Bridge, the opening move in the D-Day invasion. The glider troops were reenforced by paratroopers and had to hold the Bridge until units that landed on the beach relieved them. One of the officers leading the paratroopers was Captain Richard Todd. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/19 "2017-12-29T16:27:49Z")
Jimmy Stewart achieved Brigadier General, but it was during his acting carreer, not before, and: > [@](#): > > upon his retirement was also awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. On May 23, 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded Stewart the Presidential Medal of Freedom, simultaneously advancing Stewart to the rank of Major General on the U.S. Air Force Retired list. > **[James Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart)** > > James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality, which he portrayed both on and off the screen, he epitomized the "American ideal" in the mid-twentieth century. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors. He received numerous honors including the AFI Life Ach... mc ---
**Author:** ![BlueMerle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@BlueMerle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMerle)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502/20 "2017-12-29T16:36:46Z")
Kris Kristofferson was an Army Ranger and helicopter pilot who rose to the rank of Captain before deciding to leave the Army to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter/actor. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris\_Kristofferson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-military-rank-achieved-by-a-later-actor-tv-performer/805502.md?page=2)