10 War Movie Actors Who Were Actually There

James Stewart. Famous as an actor before WW2. He joined the Army Air Force as a pilot. He served in B-24 flying numerous missions over Germany ending up as a Colonel commanding Bombing strikes over occupied Europe. When he returned to making films it is clear, in retrospect, that Stewart was suffering from what today we call PTSD

James Garner got TWO PURPLE HEARTS in Korean War. There were many more than only 10. Audie Murphy definitely deserves the number one spot here. 👍🏻

Donald Pleasance ("Great Escape" to name just one), was a machine gunner on Wellingtons and Lancasters. Sixty-one missions and ended the war as a POW. Funny, in some postwar movies, he played Germans. Notably, he portrayed Himmler in "The Eagle has Landed", and did a fine damn performance. One of my favorite actors, often underrated.

Another war veteran actor in the movies "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Guns of Navarone" was Anthony Quayle. The latter movie must have cut close to home for him because he served as an SOE operative in Albania where he barely survived an extremely harrowing manhunt for days which left him seriously affected.

Left out: Eddie Albert (far left at 17:47) Famous for his role as a farmer in Green Acres, he was also in Roman Holiday and The Longest Day. Albert enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943, when, as the coxswain of a US Navy landing craft, he rescued 47 Marines who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.

Must include James Stewart, who not only served on Bombers in WWII, but remained in the reserves post war, and flew a mission over North Vietnam in a B-52, as a general

You forgot James Doohan (Scotty) who was in the D-Day battle and was even wounded there. He then made a brief appearence in 36 Hours - not a main actor, yes - but definetely worth a honourable mention. 🙂

Richard Todd playing his own Commanding Officer on D-Day is amazing. Oh and you forgot Sir Christopher Lee as the German Officer in "1941" using his perfect German -- one of six languages hr spoke fluently.

Do think Peter Butterworth deserved an honourable mention. The Carry On films actor had a person escape attempt from a German POW camp, and got 27 miles before being found by a member of the Hilter Youth, leading him to joke we would never work with children. He was also involved in 2 other famous escape attempted that where turned into films, The Wooden Horse and The Great Escape. For the Great Escape he was due to be the last man through, but remained behind, as he was also acting as a "code sender" back to the UK through code letters. For The Wodden Horse, he was one of the vaulters while the tunnel was being dug under the vaulting horse. He auditioned to appear in the film The Wooden Horse, but was rejected as he didn't look heroic enough!!!!

So many served, with so little recognition. Let's never forget their sacrifices.

Tyrone Power III (Jesse James) flew medical C-46 transports for the USMC, Jackie Coogan (Adam's Family's Uncle Fester) was an Army glider pilot in Burma, James Stewart (Vertigo) flew B-24s in the ETO, Sabu Dastagir (Jungle Book) flew as a USAAC B-24 gunner in the South Pacific, Ernest Borgnine (McHale's Navy) was on patrol boats in the USN, Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke)was a USN TBF Avenger radio operator in the Pacific, Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot) was a USN on a submarine tender in the Pacific, Ozzie Davis (Evening Shade) served as an Army Corps in North Africa, Eli Wallach (The Magnificent Seven) served in the Army as a Medic in North Africa, Telly Savalas(Kojak) served in the US Army as a Medic stateside (discharged due to injuries in an accident), Jack Palance served in the USAAF and was discharged after injuries suffered during pilot training, Leslie Nielson trained aa a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, James Arness (Gunsmoke) served in the US Army and was wounded in Italy, his brother Peter Graves (Mission Impossible) served in the USAAF, Charles Durning (the Sting) survived the first wave at Omaha Beach, and was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts during the war. These are but a few of the many actors from "the Greatest Generation" that served.

Comedian, Don Rickles served in the US Navy and often used his service as part of his comedic material. He was also in that Clark Gable movie, Run Silent, Run Deep and was also in Kelly's Heroes.

As a Texan and daughter of a big Audie Murphy fan, I'm happy he was number 1. The one thing I remember from high school US history is that he was the most decorated American soldier in WW2. If you're ever in Greenville, TX, you should visit the Audie Murphy and Cotton Museum. His section of the museum is so emotionally touching.

For those of you that don't know, what we saw of Audie Murphy's "To hell in back" action was version that was purposely dumbed down from the Medal of Honor official paperwork, which was again dumbed down from the actual combat action. They did that to make it "believable" enough for him to get the medal of honor.

Another actor who relived his wartime experience on screen was Esmond Knight. In the 1960 film "Sink the Bismark", he played Captain John Leach of HMS Prince of Wales. He was an accomplished actor in the 1920s and 1930s before joining the Navy when World War II broke out. During the battle of the Denmark Strait, the Bismark hit the Prince of Wales in the bridge and compass platform with a 15 inch shell, which killed everyone on the bridge except Captain Leach and Knight who was a gunnery officer. Knight was hit with shrapnel and lost his left eye while his right was badly damaged, leaving him functionally blind (he later recovered some vision in it). Ironically, his injuries saved his life, as the Prince of Wales was sunk seven months later by the Japanese and Captain Leach was killed, making Knight the only survivor of the hit. So, basically he was both the actor and technical advisor to that scene.

Alec Guinness was quoted as saying his hardest acting was as a Naval officer during the war. Incidentally there were a lot of actors who served during the war and their roles varied during their service. World War Two was one of those wars very few stayed out of, forcing everyone to do something either in or out of the military.

Others have mentioned Star Trek's James Doohan, who served in the Canadian forces in the Normandy invasion. But I don't think anyone has mentioned Sabu [Sabu Dastagir], who started life as a real "elephant boy" in India and virtually played himself in Robert Flaherty's 1937 film Elephant Boy and subsequently had an interesting film career. According to Wikipedia: "Sabu joined the United States Army Air Forces and served as a tail gunner and ball-turret gunner on B-24 Liberators. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bombardment Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery." Many who knew him remembered him as the nicest guy who ever lived.

Donald Pleasance. British actor, RAF navigator on bombers, was in his second tour of operations (so already flew 30 missions) when he was shot down and became a POW. During the Great Escape film he offered some advice to the Director who tore into him asking what he knew about it. A bit obscure for American audiences but Peter Butterworth (a comedic actor who appeared in Carry On films) was a Fleet Air Arm pilot shot down over Norway. Became a POW where he learned acting.

There are many more actors, I think, who deserve recognition from WWII: Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot. Not just for his flying, but his leadership. Mel Brooks, demolitions. Eddie Albert, truly a Pacific Hero. Don Adams. I used to think his portrayal of tough-spy Maxwell Smart was silly, till I read of his time in the navy. James Arness and Charles Durning who landed on the beaches on D-Day. And more. As always thank you so very much for the videos.

Dirk Bogarde not only served in the British Army for the failed Market-Garden campaign in September 1944, but went on to play a general in the Richard Attenborough epic “A Bridge Too Far.”