- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Tumblr
It’s not just casting calls that Hollywood stars respond to, but Uncle Sam’s too.
Stars who have served in the military are just like the more than 17 million American veterans: At one point in their lives, they either were drafted or volunteered to serve their country. Some of these public figures have even taken the skills they’ve learned in training or combat to their careers as actors, singers and comedians. Chuck Norris was able to perform his own stunts in films because of his time in the military — and even help prepare other actors for action on film. Star Wars star Adam Driver saw the correlations between the two professions so strongly that he started a nonprofit that combined them. But even further than physical training, some actors have applied their emotional growth from their time in service to their time on screen.
“The military and theater communities are actually very similar: You have a group of people trying to accomplish a mission greater than themselves,” Driver said during his TED Talk. “It’s not about you. You have a role, and you have to know the role in that team.”
From Norris and Driver to Bea Arthur and Morgan Freeman, here are 11 Hollywood stars who have served in the military.
-
Bea Arthur
The late Golden Girls (1985-92) star was one of the primary comrades of the Women’s Reserve in the Marines when she enlisted in 1943. In her military roles (as she would later be in her acting roles), she was reportedly a force to be reckoned with: “officious — but probably a good worker — if she has in own way,” according to military.com. After rising in the ranks as a sergeant and staff sergeant, Arthur left the military and had a successful Broadway career. She took her Tony Award-winning skills from the stage to the screen as Cousin Maude in the ’70s hit sitcom All in the Family and its spinoff, Maude, and became one of the stars (with Betty White, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan) of The Golden Girls.
-
Harry Belafonte
Belafonte’s achievements include reaching EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) status and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. It was the G.I. Bill that funded the singer-actor’s education at The New School for Social Research in New York. After performing at jazz clubs, he took his performance skills into his breakout film role in Bright Road (1953). From there, he went on to star in films like Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Kansas City (1996) and Bobby (2006). In between motion pictures, he made Grammy-winning records — and became known as the “King of Calypso” — and progressed the Civil Rights movement forward alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and John Kennedy. He is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and has appeared in TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
-
Kirk Douglas
Douglas fought for his country during World War II, following his Broadway performance in Spring Again and ahead of his screen-acting career, according to CNN. Two years after his service, the actor did his first film, The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946), opposite Barbara Stanwyck. From there, he became the film icon he is still known as today, two years after his death: starring in classics like Spartucus (1960), The Vikings 1958) and Lust for Life (1956).
-
Adam Driver
Before he joined the dark side as Kylo Ren in Star Wars, Adam Driver joined the Marine Corps following 9/11. His time in service was cut short after a mountain-biking accident. Driver injured his sternum prior to his deployment to Iraq. Instead, he was discharged and decided to reapply to Julliard, which he was rejected from before joining the Marines: “There’s something about going into the military and having all of your identity and possessions stripped away: that whole clarity of purpose thing,” Driver told The Guardian about his time in the military. “It becomes very clear to you, when you get your freedom back, that there’s stuff you want to do.” He was accepted to the prestigious performing arts institution, where he met his future wife, Joanne Tucker, and rekindled his relationship with his first love — acting, according to The Guardian. Eventually, he landed his breakout role opposite Lena Dunham in HBO’s Girls (2012-17). He was nominated for Oscars for his portrayal of Flip Zimmerman in 2018’s BlaKkKlansman and for his role in 2019’s Marriage Story, and he completed his third run as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Despite his flourishing acting career, his time in the military stayed with him: he founded and still runs nonprofit “Arts in the Armed Forces,” which brings professional stage productions straight to military servicemen and women.
-
Clint Eastwood
Following high school and the Great Depression, Eastwood was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. His years of service were spent as a lifeguard while stationed in Ft. Ord, California. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, he was able to attend drama school at L.A. City College. He caught the attention of Universal Studios and signed a contract that launched his career in Western films, according to military.com. Starting with Francis in the Navy (1955) and Revenge of the Creature (1955), he later became a Hollywood icon known for Sudden Impact and Unforgiven, for which he won an Oscar. He also became a Hollywood triple-threat as a director, actor and producer, winning Oscars for all of those roles.
-
Morgan Freeman
Before his award-winning career, Freeman enlisted in the Air Force and trained to be a fighter pilot. That aspiration for aviation did, however, come to a crash landing. He told AARP Magazine he was “only in love with the idea” of flying and had this “distinct feeling that he was sitting in the nose of a bomb” when inside the cockpit of a plane, according to military.com. He left the military after four years to pursue his original passion: acting. Two decades of dedicated stage acting later, Freeman landed his breakthrough role on soap opera Another World and eventually became a blockbuster regular after 1994’s Shawshank Redemption, with credits including Se7en, Outbreak, Kiss the Girls and sequel Along Came a Spier,, Deep Impact, Bruce Almighty and sequel Evan Almighty, Million Dollar Baby and Gone Baby Gone. He also has a production company with credits including such scripted series as Madam Secretary and unscripted series including Through the Wormhole and The Story of God With Morgan Freeman.
-
Zulay Henao
Fighting (2009) and Boy Wonder (2010) were not her first brushes with combat. The Single Mom’s Club (2014) star went straight into the Army following high school for three years. She discharged from service to pursue an acting career. She then honed her performing skills at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, according to Insider, and went on to appear in a long line of films and television shows like Army Wives (2007) and Takers (2010) with Idris Elba. She more recently appeared in the TV shows The Oath and Stumptown and the film The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2.
-
James Earl Jones
Adam Driver was not the first Star Wars villain to come from a military background. James Earl Jones, who is renowned for his role voicing Darth Vader, joined the Army during the Korean War. He was well on his way to a lifelong career in the military, proceeding from second lieutenant to first lieutenant while training comrades in Colorado. After some self-reflection, he decided to leave the military in lieu of a successful television, film and theater career, according to military.com. One might think that his distinctively imperious voice (it’s hard to believe he ever had a stutter) would have served him well as a commanding officer, but then the greater public would not have experienced his talents as Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King (1994 and 2019) and Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and his roles as Terence Mann in 1989’s Field of Dreams and King Jaffre Joffer in 1988’s Coming to America and its 2021 sequel.
-
Chuck Norris
He joined the Air Force after high school before he became an action film force of nature. While in Korea, Norris got exposed to the world of martial arts, such “chops” that prepared him for roles like Way of the Dragon (1972, opposite Bruce Lee) and one of his starring roles, Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001). He was the first western man to earn an eighth-degree Black Belt in Tae Kwan Do, according to military.com. From student to master, he spent his years after being discharged from the military training actors like Priscilla Presley and Steve McQueen in the martial arts. McQueen convinced Norris to pursue acting, which led to a flourishing career in television and film.
-
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock briefly traded in his “Blue Suede Shoes” and iconic haircut for a shorter one and an Army uniform when he was drafted in 1957. He entered the Army in 1958. His era as an Army sergeant served as the threshold between Elvis in his prime and “Mature Elvis.” It’s been widely reported that one of his military comrades did introduce him to the drugs that may have been responsible for his death, and his addiction coincided with his return to a rock ‘n’ roll realm that was different than the one he remembered.
-
Tom Selleck
The Blue Bloods star has spent most of his acting career protecting civilians as a private investigator or a chief of police, but there was a time when he was protecting his country in real life. Selleck’s time signed to 20th Century Fox’s talent program was interrupted when he received a call to arms during the Vietnam War. He became a sergeant in the California Army National Guard. His side gig as a model during his days at USC came in handy when the National Guard decided to make Selleck the star of its recruitment posters, according to military.com. However, Fox fired Selleck when he returned to Hollywood, according to several reports. His career propelled forward 11 years later when he was cast as the star of Magnum P.I (1980-88). Since then, the veteran has recurred in many prominent TV shows and movies, including Friends (from 1996-2000), the Jesse Stone TV movie franchise and CBS’ Blue Bloods (which was just renewed for a 13th season). A 10th Jesse Stone television movie has also been announced.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Elvis Presley served in the Navy and listed his years of service as running from 1957-1960. Presley served in the Army and while he was drafted in 1957, he didn’t begin his service until 1958.
Updated 8:25 a.m. May 25: The number of current veterans was updated to reflect the most recent census information.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day