And you should be scared anytime a god(ess) is your DI 
God, I love Gunny. And to think he played House’s father, too. Which would explain why House is so messed up.
A Marine.
It’s hard to imagine, but I’ll try…Damn! He’s scary! Who knew?
“You missed by THAT much, Private!”
Yeah, I love Gunny. But I chose to not accept Uncle Sam’s invitation in 1972, because he wasn’t getting insistent, with suggestions of jail time and all. I mean, it was a shooting war. Thanks, but no thanks.
The first time I watched this as a kid, it occurred to me that there was a Marine dill sergeant living two houses down from me. His name was Hart (really), and he was one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. He was quiet, soft-spoken, and always laughing. Granted, even in civvies, he was always 100% squared away. He was short, compact, and thin as a rail. His pants were always pressed, and his shirt was always tucked in, neat as a hospital sheet.
He was my first guitar teacher. He was infinitely patient, never once yelled (in my presence) or lost his temper in the tiniest way.
As I was watching FMJ, I shuddered to imagine what his former recruits thought about him. 
Say what?
The Janitor’s father on Scrubs too. Apparently he is who they think of when they want to show a father as the cause for insane men.
Private Pyle, you are definitely born again hard!
Frank Sutton from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. certainly had a good bark. He could border on scary even in a sit-com setting. Now, imagine him in a drama with more salty dialog. I think he would be terrifying.
Darren McGavin & Earl Holliman made an impression on me when I was 13, as the D.I.s in Tribes. It doesn’t really hold up to modern viewing (replace Gomer Pyle with a hippie & call it a drama), but it was good for its time.
Lou Gossett, Jr. in An Officer & A Gentleman. I never imagined anyone would top Lou. His voice cut like a knife. I had four years of military service behind me & I still felt my balls crawling up into my body when Lou first showed up.
And then came R. Lee.
No one compares.
Guess who coached Gossett.
Another supposed former DI(although I’m not sure from wnich service): Bob “happy little trees” Ross.
And to the guy who called me “Sir”. Cram It!!! I WORK for a living, Goddammnit!!!
Jack Webb played a Marine Corp drill instructor in “The D.I>”, a film he made to help the USMC wash away the guilt after a drill instructor killed six recruits in training. Of course why the Army. Air Force, navy and Coast Guard could turn out people without the brutality the Corps had was not answered.
I was under the impression that Don Adams short clipped speaking style as Maxwell Smart, secret agent 86 was his mimicking of 1930s actor William Powell.
My own question from a while back: Full Metal Jacket: Was the drill instructor a bad guy?
You are the grass and I am the mower.
He’s shooting an M2. Greatest machine gun ever, though I have seen people who argued that.
Air Force.
Wouldn’t it have been great if R. Lee had been cast in the Star Trek episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion” instead of that dame who was supposed to teach Kirk? Imagine R. Lee telling Kirk “I am your drill thrall. I will train you well.”