R. Lee Ermey
Actor, Former MarineR. Lee Ermey is a Golden Globe nominee and Boston Society of Film Critics Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in director Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. <br /> <br /> Ermey spent eleven years in the Marine Corps, two of which were spent as a Drill Instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. He arrived in Vietnam in 1968 and spent fourteen months attached to Marine Wing Support Group 17 and completed two tours in Okinawa. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and was medically retired for injuries received. On May 17, 2002, he received an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) by Commandant James L. Jones, becoming the first retiree in the history of the Marines to be promoted. Using GI Bill benefits, Ermey enrolled at the University of Manila in the Philippines, where he studied drama. Francis Ford Coppola was filming Apocalypse Now in the area and cast Ermey in a featured role. He has since gone on to star or appear in approximately sixty films. His most famous role came as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. The performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination and the best supporting actor award from the Boston Society of Film Critics. Since then, he has appeared in numerous character roles in such films as Leaving Las Vegas, Se7en, Dead Man Walking, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. He has done numerous voice-over roles spanning from The Simpsons to Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Lee hosted the History Channel programs Mail Call from 2002 to 2009 and Lock N’ Load in 2009.