In contrast to the ideals, opinions and feelings of today's "Hollywonk" the real actors of yester-year loved the United States. They had both class and integrity. With the advent of World War many of our best loved Hollywood actors, directors and writers went to fight rather than stand and rant against this country we all love. They gave up their wealth, position and fame to become service men & women, many as simple "enlisted men". So remember; while the "Entertainers" have been in all of the news media lately (for it seems News Paper, Television and Radio has been more than ready to put them and their anti-American, anti-Bush message before the public) I would like to remind the people of what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (60 years ago). Most of these brave men and women have since passed on.
By the end of the war, some 6,000 men from the film industry had logged time in the military, according to a report in the April 2, 1945, edition of The Reporter. Hollywood's enlistees famously included such marquee names as Gable, James Stewart and Robert Montgomery and such top director-producers as John Ford, George Stevens, W.S. "Woody" Van Dyke, Darryl F. Zanuck and Frank Capra. While the celebrity soldiers saw varying degrees of action, many Hollywood personalities made invaluable contributions.
Motion Picture Workers & Entertainers
John Allegro, HMS Navy
British actor. During World War II he enlisied in the Royal Navy and held the rank of sub-lieutenant.
Steve Allen, US Army
Composer, musician, and comedian. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and served only five months. He received a medical discharge for asthma.
Robert Altman, USAAF
Hollywood director and producer of the 1970 movie M*A*S*H. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943 and flew forty-six missions as a bomber pilot in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. He was discharged in 1947.
Richard Arlen, USAAF
Actor in films and tv. Pilot in RCAF in WW1, then CPT and USAAF flight instructor during WW2.
Desi Arnaz, US Army
Hollywood entertainer. At the outbreak of World War II, Arnaz was offered a commission in the Cuban Army, which he turned down to enlist in the U. S. Navy. He was refused by the Navy because of a regulation that stated that noncitizens could not join, although they could be drafted. While trying to join the Navy he was making a movie for RKO entitled The Navy Comes Through. Arnaz played Private Felix Ramirez in the 1942 movie Bataan, shortly after which he received his draft notice. He attempted to join the Army Air Forces but failed the physical and ended up in the infantry. After straining the torn cartilage in his knees-the reason for his failing the physical-he was given limited duty with the Medical Corps as an entertainer. Arnaz, whose serial number was 392-956-43, was discharged on November 16, 1945, as a staff sergeant.
Lew Ayers, US Army
Hollywood actor and husband of actress Ginger Rogers (1934-1941). He was a conscientious objector during World War II and served in the Medical Corps under fire. His status during the war almost destroyed his acting career.
Sy (Cy) Bartlett, USAAF
Hollywood writer. During World War II he was a major in the U.S. Army Air Force and served as an aide to General Carl Spaatz in England. He flew as an observer on an R.A.F bombing mission over Berlin in March 1943. Bartlett coauthored the book Twelve O'Clock High with Beirne Lay, Jr. In 1950, he helped produce the movie of the same name and in 1963 produced A Gathering of Eagles.
Tony Bennett, US Army
Singer who served with the U.S. Army as an infantryman in Europe. It was while in the Army that he got his first opportunity to sing with a band - a military band.
Joey Bishop, US Army
Comedian and writer. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 and spent the next three years in special services. Bishop was discharged in 1945 with the rank of sergeant.
Charles Boyer, French Army
French actor. At the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the French army in the 37th Artillery. He was released from duty in 1940 and was sent to the United States as a goodwill ambassador. Boyer was an ardent supporter of General Charles de Gaulle.
Pat Brady, US Army
Hollywood actor and sidekick of Roy Rogers. He was awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds received in France.
Joe E. Brown,
Hollywood comedian. He was the first entertainer to travel to both the South Pacific and Alaska to visit U.S. troops during World War II. Brown was one of only two civilians to be awarded the Bronze Star medal. (The other was correspondent Ernie Pyle.) He traveled over 200,000 miles at his own expense to entertain troops and General Douglas MacArthur once told newspaper reporters "there isn't a man in uniform or out who has done more for our boys than Joe E. Brown." His son Captain Don E. Brown was killed in a plane crash in World War II.
Dave Brubeck, US Army
U.S. jazz musician. He served as a member of a U.S. Army jazz band during World War II.
Chester Burnett, US Army
Blues singer who sang under the name of "Howlin' Wolf." He served in the U.S. Army between 1941 and 1945, when he also entertained troops with his singing and guitar playing.
Raymond Burr, USN
Hollywood actor. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was discharged in 1946.
Charlie Byrd, US Army
Jazz guitarist. He served in the U. S. Army Special Services as a member of a GI orchestra during World War II.
Bruce Cabot, USAAF
Hollywood actor who played the leading male role in the 1933 movie King Kong. During World War II he was an intelligence officer with the Army Air Force and served in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
Sid Caesar, USCG
Hollywood comedian. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard November 5, 1942 and was assigned guard duty at the Brooklyn Pier. He was discharged on December 10, 1945.
John Carroll, USAAF
Hollywood actor. During World War II, he served as an Army Air Force pilot in North Africa and survived a plane crash in which he broke his back.
Eddie Chapman
British safecracker and convict who was imprisoned on the Isle of Jersey when the Germans occupied it in 1940. He immediately offered his services as a spy and was accepted and trained by the Abwehr. After training, Chapman was parachuted into England where he surrendered, agreeing to become a double agent by radioing false information back to the Germans. He was credited by the Germans for sabotaging an aircraft factory, which in fact the British camouflaged to appear destroyed. Chapman was awarded the Iron Cross for this. He also sent back false strike reports that caused the Germans to incorrectly aim their V-2 rockets. He was pardoned after the war by the British government and given the Order of the British Empire. Chapman was portrayed in the 1967 movie Triple Cross by Christopher Plummer.
Lee J Cobb, USAAF-FMPU
Hollywood actor who served as a Civil Air Patrol pilot during World War Il.
Frank Coghlan, Jr., USN
Hollywood actor from 1921 to 1941. He enlisted in the US Navy during World War II and eventually lieutenant commander.
Jackie Coogan, USAAF
Enlisted in the Army on Mar. 4, 1941. When the U.S. entered WW II as a result of the Pearl Harbor attack, Coogan requested transfer to the AAF as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. Well-known child actor of the 1930's and first husband of actress Betty Grable. Coogan piloted the first glider to land at Myitkyina in March 1944 during the first Allied airborne operation of the Asiatic war. Coincidentally, the code name for the landing zone was "Broadway."
Merian Cooper, USAAF
Film director, producer, writer, adventurer and explorer; Academy Award (1952) for his innovations and contributions to motion pictures; RKO head of production (1933); co-fdr (with director John Ford) of Argosy Productions (1947). RAF Lt WW1, bomber pilot; post-WW1, Polish-American Kosciuszko Sqn fighter pilot in battles with Reds; USAAF LtCol/BrigGen WW2, Chennault's Chief of Staff 14th AF; PanAm board of directors. Lifelong aviation advocate, Cinerama pioneer, his personal adventures would themselves make a movie the spirited character of Carl Denham in "King Kong" was modeled after some of his jungle experiences [Trivia: In its flying scene, the pilot is played by Cooper and his observer is co-producer Ernest Schoedsack, who decided to play the parts when Cooper said, "I think we should kill the sonofabitch ourselves!"].
Wally Cox, US Army
Hollywood comedian. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and sent to Fort Walters, Texas, where the intense heat put him in the hospital several times with heat stroke. He was later given an honorable discharge for medical reasons.
Robert Cummings, USAAF
Actor in films and TV and godson of aviation pioneer Orville Wright. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a flight instructor. Cummings also appeared in a number of savings bond drives for the war effort. Sportsman pilot, flew notable all-green Porterfield 35-70 Spinach and Cessna C-37 Airmaster Spinach II [NC18550], Lockheed 12.
James Daly, USAAF
Hollywood actor who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and the U. S. Navy during World War II.
Sabu Dastagir, USAAF
Actor known as Sabu the Elephant Boy. During World War II, he flew forty-two missions in the South Pacific and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four clusters, in addition to the Presidential Unit Citation.
Jimmy Dean, USMM
Country-and-western singer who served in the Merchant Marine toward the end of World War lI.
Richard Denning, RAF
Hollywood actor. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and served on a submarine.
John Derek, US Army
Hollywood actor and husband of actresses Ursula Andress, Linda Evans, and Bo Derek. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944 and volunteered for paratrooper training. Derek made sixteen jumps before being discharged in 1946.
Billy DeWolfe, USN
Hollywood actor. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on January 20, 1942, as Seaman First Class William A. Jones (his real name). He was discharged in 1945.
Brian Donlevy, USAAF
Hollywood actor. He was bugler for General Pershing in the 1916 Mexican campaign against Pancho Villa. Pilot in Lafayette Flying Corps (not the Lafayette Escadrille, as sometimes reported) in WWI; USAAF in WW2 as Flight Instructor.
Roy Dotrice, RAF
He lied about his age and joined the service in 1938 at age 14, and became a tail-gunner in bomb runs over Europe with the Royal Air Force Bomber Command. His plane was shot down in 1942; and he spend the remainder of the war in a German prisoner-of-war camp.
Melvyn Douglas, US Army
Hollywood actor. He was the first actor to become a delegate to a national political convention when, in 1940, he was the California representative to the Democratic National Convention. To do his part for the war, Douglas enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in December 1942 and made it through the rigors of basic training in spite of his age-forty-two. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater entertaining troops and was discharged in 1945.
Robert Douglas, RNAS
(Robert Douglas Finlayson) Actor, director (UK and USA). RNAS in WW2.
Saxie Dowell, USN
U.S. bandleader and composer who wrote the 1919 popular song "Three Little Fishies." He served on the U.S. aircraft carrier U.S.S. Franklin as the ship's bandleader and was aboard on March 19, 1945, when it was hit by two bombs, which caused the deaths of 772 crewmembers, in the U.S. Navy's second worst disaster.
Hugh Downs, US Army
Television talk show host and game show M.C. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II after unsuccessfully attempting to join the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. As an experiment his group's basic training was condensed from thirteen weeks to four weeks; as a result Downs collapsed from exhaustion. He was medically discharged after spending several weeks in the hospital.
Eddy Duchin, USN
Pianist who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. He was trained in antisubmarine detection gear because he had perfect pitch and his hearing allowed him to differentiate sounds readily. Duchin took part in the D-Day invasion on a destroyer escort and was later involved in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was discharged in 1945 as a lieutenant commander.
Ernest K Gann, USAAF
Author, film screenwriter. USAAF ATC pilot in WW2, sport and business pilot.
Ted Geisel, USAAF-FMPU
aka Dr Seuss, USAAF-FMPU Capt, co-creator (with Phil Eastman) of training film cartoon character, "Private Snafu"
George Gobel, USAAF
Deadpan "Lonesome George" of early TV fame was an AAF flight instructor for much of World War II. He boasted that he allowed no Japanese aircraft anywhere east of Tulsa.
Arthur Godfrey, USN
Entertainer, popular radio/tv host for 30 years, minor roles in four films. Inductee, Radio Hall of Fame 1988. Avid flyer and aviation proponent; pilot license in 1950. USN service as radio operator 1920-24, USCG 1927-30; a USNR Cdr, he could fly most everything in the fleet during the '50s, even qualified for carrier operations. At the request of Genl Curtis Lemay, and with DOD approval, he transferred to USAFR as full Colonel. Well-known was his DC-3, a gift from Eddie Rickenbacker and Eastern Air Lines as thanks for his aviation booster activities.
Everett Greenbaum, USN
Film/tv bit character actor, screenwriter for M*A*S*H, Andy Griffith, Mr Peepers, most Don Knotts films; USN service pilot in WW2. Last flew green Cessna 175 The Green Bomber.
Paul Harvey, USAAF
(Paul Harvey Aurandt) Popular radio features reporter and personality. Ex-USAAC. An article in the 11/7/78 issue of Esquire magazine tells of Harvey stealing a military airplane and being discharged from Army on a Section 8 (mental illness) in 1944.
Skitch Henderson, USAAF
(Lyle Henderson) Bandleader, composer; many appearances on television on the Steve Allen Show and as Johnny Carson's bandleader (Tonight Show 1962-1988). USAAF service during WW2 as pilot.
Tim Holt, USAAF
A Western actor best known for his role in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Holt left Hollywood in 1943 to become a B-29 bombardier in the 39th Bomb Group. He mysteriously disappeared from Guam in 1945, turning up in the United States to resume his film career.
Brian Keith, USMC
Served as a U.S. Marine rear gunner in combat actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific earning the, American Campaign Medal; National Defense Medal; Philippines Liberation Medal (w/battle star); Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal (w/battle star and Overseas Service Bar.
Beirne Lay Jr, USAAF
Film screenwriter, producer. WW2 in USAAF as B-24 pilot, 8th AF 487 BG group commander; shot down in Europe, but evaded capture and made it back to England.
Paul Mantz, USAAF
(Albert Paul Mantz) Pilot, film director, tech advisor. One of the original members in the USAAF's FMPU during WW2, as Colonel. Killed in a crash while filming "The Flight of the Phoenix," and the film was dedicated to his memory.
Tim McCoy, US Army
He served in World War I, when war broke out again he was too old for the draft so he went down and enlisted and served in World War II (during which he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Ribbon, the European Theater Ribbon with two Battle Stars, one Overseas Service Bar), rising to the rank of Col. by the close of the war.
Ray Milland, USAAF
(Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones) Actor film and tv (UK and USA). Academy Award (1946), Golden Globe (1946). WW2 USAAF Flight Instructor.
Wayne Morris, USN
Born Bert DeWayne Morris, Jr. on February 17, 1914. Morris became one of the first Hollywood actors to enter the service, joining the Naval Reserves and receiving a Commission. Following flight training and a year as an instructor, he was thrust immediately in the Pacific air war, flying an F6F Hellcat with VF-15 off the carrier, the USS Essex. He would go on to fly 57 missions, shooting down seven Japanese aircraft, as well as participating in the sinking of five Japanese warships; making him one of the early American aces of the war. Of the 57 missions he flew, three of his Hellcats were so full of holes when he returned to his carrier, they were rendered "unfit for duty" and dumped overboard. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals for an acts of Valor and Courage, American Campaign Medal; National Defense Medal; Philippines Liberation Medal (w/ battle star); China Service Medal; Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal (w/battle star and Overseas Service Bar, earned while flying in active operations against the enemy. He earned the rank of Lt. Commander.
John Payne, USAAF
Film actor, singer, director, producer. USAAF Flight Instructor in WW2; BrigGen in North Carolina ANG; sportsman pilot.
Gene Raymond, USAAF
Remained in the USAF Reserve following WW II. On Aug. 13, 1968, after having logged more than 5,000 hours and having been awarded his command pilot wings, he retired from the USAF Reserve as a Colonel.
George Reeves, USAAF
(George K Brewer neι Besselo) Television's Superman hero (1953-1958) was drafted into the Army in 1943 and served in the AAF's Special Theatrical Unit.
Cliff Robertson, USMM
Film and tv actor, director, producer. WW2 in merchant marine. Sportsman pilot, flew DH Tiger Moth, Bonanza; also owned a museum Spitfire XVII.
Gene Roddenberry, USAAF
Creator of the Star Trek television series, Roddenberry flew 89 missions as a B-17 pilot in the Solomon Islands and subsequently entered commercial aviation.
Charles ("Buddy") Rogers, USN
Film actor, dancer, musician. Academy Award (Hersholt Award 1986). USN test pilot, flight training instructor in WW2.
John Russell, USMC
In 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, and it was during the battle for Guadacanal where he received a Battlefield Commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor, his Medals and Decorations include The Navy/Marine Cross, American Campaign Medal; National Defense Medal; Philippines Liberation Medal (w/battle star); Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal (w/battle star and Overseas Service Bar.
Frank Tallman, USN
Pilot, film and tv sequence advisor. LtCdr USN in WW2. Despite loss of a leg in a non-aviation accident in 1965, requalified for all of his many FAA licenses.
Frank "Spig" Wead, USN
Screenwriter, playwright. USN patrol pilot in WW1 and into the early '30s, led the USN Schneider Trophy racing team 1922. Suffered a crippling back injury in a fall down a flight of stairs, then began a successful writing career. His final film, "The Wings of Eagles," was an autobiography, with John Wayne playing his part. The WW2 "pocket carrier" (aka "Jeep carrier") was his idea a Liberty ship modified with a flight deck and, despite his handicap, he was returned to sea duty during the war by the Navy in the rank of Commander.
Morgan Woodward, USAAF
(Thomas Morgan Woodward) Film and tv actor, notably in westerns. Pilot training USAAF WW2. Sportsman pilot, had Fairchild PT-26, Waco UPF-7. Voice of Waldo Waterman in DVD "One Six Right" (2005).
