10 War Movie Actors Who Were Actually There

numerous acting icons have stared in films set in and around World War II with many that were released in the 1940s 50s and 60s actually featuring actors who served in the conflict in one way or another sometimes in the very battles that were being depicted on screen the wartime experiences of these actors and filmmakers whether their careers started pre or postwar left an indelible mark on the Hollywood landscape of many going on to revisit their wartime experiences in films released after the war's end I'm Yan this is W culture and here are 10 war movie actors who were actually there number 10 Lee Marvin Lee Marvin was a legend of an actor and one of my favorites ever initially typ cast as the heavy in Noir and Western pictures Marvin truly broke out with 1953's the big heat a Noir Classic directed by Fritz Lang other early career highlights include the aonomus liberty bance and John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Chino in the wild one and Hector David in bad day at Black Rock but arguably more iconic was his turn as major ryeman in the dirty dozen a Robert Aldrich directed picture that saw Marvin take charge of condemned US Army soldiers for a suicide mission against the Nazis the dirty doesn't was one of several World War II set films Marvin Sten with other acclaimed examples being hell in the Pacific directed by John Borman who also directed Marvin in his greatest film Point Blank and Samuel Fullers the big red one which was based on the director's wartime experiences as a member of the first Infantry Division Marvin lends a real force of gravity and stature to these performances as well as authenticity during the war Marvin had enlisted in the Marine Corps and became a scout sniper seeing action in the bloody Battle of Sian in 1944 among other numerous engagements he was wounded during that battle along with most of of his company and received a medical discharge in 1945 and yeah it goes without saying that Marvin's wartime experiences carried over into his films especially those that focused on the second world war in many instances he was able to act as an advisor on set ensuring a greater level of authenticity to those Productions he started only two of which ended up bringing him back to the Pacific number nine Robert Montgomery Robert Montgomery might be one of the most fascin ating figures of Hollywood's Golden Age an actor and filmmaker whose career spanned both the pre- and post-war erors and one that like many of his colleagues ended up drawing upon his wartime experience Montgomery was already a prolific performer by the time hosti East began in 1939 but he didn't wait for his home country the United States to get involved the Academy Award nominated actor volunteered to drive ambulances in France in 1939 before he returned to the US and enlisted in the United States Navy Montgomery service would take him back to Europe during the Normandy Landings and then to the Pacific where he served aboard a PT Boat vehicles that were the main subject matter of one of Montgomery's most iconic films the John Ford directed They Were Expendable said during the outbreak of war between the United States and Japan in 1941 and 1942 They Were Expendable told the story of the failed American defense the Philippines and the Valiant efforts of the PT Boat crewman who fought to disrupt the Japanese Navy Ford himself had been posted to the Pacific during his service with the OSS capturing dramatic footage of the Battle of Midway where he was also wounded Ford collaborator John Wayne also starred in the picture but famously did not serve which led to for dressing Wayne down on set when he faed to perform an accurate salute in a scene early in the film if you're interested in learning more about Ford and World War II by the way then please do check out five came back on Netflix it's one of the best produced documentary series I've ever watched and goes into great deal regarding Ford's wtime experiences as well as directors Frank cpra William Wier John Houston and George Stevens that slight tangent aside well not as iconic as Ford's Western They Were Expendable is still one of his strongest films and at times achingly dark look back at the beginning stages of the war an coulded superbly by the chastened Wayne and a stoic Montgomery number eight David nian David nien was one of the most iconic British stars of all time with the majority of his most widely known efforts coming after World War II nian had originally started a career in the military before transitioning to acting in the late 1930s but returned as an officer following Britain's declaration of war against Germany in September 1939 he would go on to serve as a Commando in the European theater while also conducting the occasional entertainment assignment starring in the first of the few in 1942 a film that depicted the creation of the Spitfire by RJ Mitchell Nan's film career of course continued post-war where he starred in several movies in which he played British servicemen arguably the most acclaimed of these and I go into more depth on this movie in 10 war movie moments you'll never forget so go check out that video once you're done here is a matter of life and death directed by Michael Powell and Emer presburger in which nian played an RAF pilot who bomber is shot down over the English Channel a deeply moving and gorgeously shot picture from The Archers perhaps the greatest British film ever made certainly up there with the third man and Lawrence of Arabia a matter of life and death reckons with the Staggering losses of the conflict as Nan's character Peter Carter is forced to plead his case to the afterlife that he shouldn't have perished in that fateful plane crash perhaps the film to most closely mirror Nan's wartime work though was The Guns of Navarone while a sensational portrayal of the conflict Jay Thompson's picture is a RI roaring War Adventure that paired Nan hear an explosives expert perfectly with Gregory peek both Allied Commandos task with destroying a German Naval battery number seven Alec Guinness David nien isn't the only British actor who can lay claim to starring in potentially the country's greatest film Alec Guinness was in three karts and Carnes the bridge and the river Quai and Lawrence of Arabia the latter two being the most acclaimed examples of multiple collaborations with David lean cemented Guinness's status as one of the finest actors who ever lived a theatrical performer of great versatility who delivered stirring monologues wity exchanges and even seemingly inconsequential dialogue with a consistent level of craft and diligence born in 1914 Guinness was a fighting age when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939 he joined the Royal Navy volunteer reserve and commanded an Allied landing craft during the British American and Canadian Ian Le invasion of Sicily in 1943 later partaking in operations to transport Arms and Supplies for the Yugoslav resistance while an experienced theater actor before the war Guinness made the transition to the Silver Screen in 1946 starring into Charles Dickens adaptations from lean before taking on arguably his greatest role as the delusional Colonel Nicholson a British officer taken as a prison of War by the Japanese in 1957's The Bridge on the River Quai which is my personal favorite war movie of all time guines would take on several more World War II genre assignments than the years before and after the release of river Quai including Malta story where he portrayed an RAF pilot Barnacle Bill and eing comedy where Guinness portrayed a family tree of in competent naval officers and tunes of Glory a post-war set drama set in the Scottish Highlands number six Richard Todd Richard Todd is one of the most interesting examples of a World War II veteran who took roles in films set during the conflict another theatrically trained actor like Guinness Todd enlisted in the British army following Britain's declaration of war and trained as an officer at Sandhurst surviving multiple close calls before he eventually joined the parachute regimen Todd took part in one of the most important military operations conducted during the war in D-Day comprising a part of the Allied Airborne assault that landed Behind Enemy Lines prior to the naval Landings that took place on gold Juno sword and Omaha beaches on the morning of June 6th 1944 tdd parachuted in following the initial glider born Landings and was tasked with supporting Major John Howard's troops at Pegasus Bridge fighting off multiple German attempts to break through until they were relieved by the advancing British infantry strangely enough Todd actually Revisited the Battle of Pegasus bridge in his film career portraying Howard in the Daryl F zanak produced 1962 epic the longest day which provided a comprehensive depiction of the Normandy invasion from its buildup through to the successful Allied breakout from the beaches because Todd portrayed Howard another actor Patrick Jordan uncredited in the film was cast in the role of Todd a unique situation few War films of the period ever actually had to approach Todd was a prolific World War II movie actor starring in multiple films before and after the longest day the most iconic of which was the Dam Busters where he played Wing Commander guy Gibson slightly related but on the topic of the longest day what do you think is the best film about D-Day is it this Overlord Saving Private Ryan let me know down in the comments below number five Clark Gable another icon of Hollywood's Golden Age Clark Gable was also one of the film industry's most enduring presences featuring during the silent movie era of the 1920s before making the transition to TS in the subsequent decades where he became one of the most famous leading man of all time with films like Gone With the Wind like many of his peers Gable's film career was interrupted by World War III he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in 1942 serving as an aerial gunner in boming missions over Europe during which time he developed a propaganda film designed to recruit Gunners to the Air Force called combat America which Incorporated actual combat footage of Gable's time over Europe Gable's official combat record registers five missions in total although it has been claimed that he partook in more unofficially Gable only took a few World War II set Hollywood assignments after the war including homecoming where he portrayed a wartime doctor in the European theater and Command Decision where he played a commanding officer in the US Army Air Force's fifth bomber division of his films set during the war though perhaps the best was run silence Run Deep a Robert Wise directed submarine Thriller set in the Pacific that cast the Gone With the Wind star opposite Bert Lancaster who had himself contributed to the war as part of the US Army special services division n these genre efforts ever really match the Acclaim or stature of Gable's most famous works but his wartime contributions lendon added level of Gravitas to their proceedings number four tashiro mafune tashiro mafune arguably the greatest Japanese actor of all time began his acting career following Japan's defeat in the second world war quickly developing one of the medium's most formidable Partnerships with director Akira kurasa mafune delivered legendary performances across kurosawa's Peerless filmography starting with drunken Angel and 1948 and peing with Samurai drama thrown of blood Seven Samurai and yujimbo in the subsequent years before he was an actor though mafune was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces upon the country's entry into World War II where he served as an aerial photographer mun's wartime experience lasted the full breadth of Japan's engagement in the conflict commencing in 1940 and only concluding when the country surrendered after the atomic bombings of hoshima and Nagasaki in 194 5 more than just conducting aerial reconnaissance mafune bore witness to the Japanese Air Services brutal kamakazi tactics first hand as the war Drew to its closing stages spending time with selected Pilots before they embarked on their one-way trips to meet Allied Targets in the Pacific this experience is said to have had a profound impact on mafune who claimed to have told the pilots not to venerate Emperor hito as they met their end but to cry out for their mothers instead yeah despite his harrowing experience in the war mafune took several World War II assignments across his career including Japanese directed films like eagle of the Pacific and attack Squadron both of which saw the actor play fighter pilots ironically despite most of the mun's US directed films failing to match the standard set by his Japanese works it was John borman's hell in the Pacific that perhaps best translated the RO emotional force of his talent to the genre a film that cast him opposite fellow Pacific War veteran Lee Marvin as a pair of Pilots stranded on a remote island and who have to overcome their differences in order to survive hell in the Pacific is still relatively underseen compared to most war movies of the period but it is a truly fascinating picture made all the more compelling by Marvin and mun's wartime experiences number three Charles Bronson although Charles Bronson ended his career as an Exemplar of some gloriously schlocky action Cinema exemplified in his various collaborations of director Michael winter its beginning stages were largely defined by entries in the Western and War genres both played to Brunson strength as a muscular orbe unconventional leading man but the latter benefited uniquely from being able to draw upon the adors wartime experiences from 1943 through to 1945 Bronson served as a gunner in a b29 super Fortress during the campaign against Japan in the Pacific taking part in 25 combat missions over the course of his service just before VJ Day arrived in August of 45 while Bronson didn't star in any World War II set films that positioned him in a Balmer Crew He was prolific in the genre in its Heyday starting with efforts like when Hell broke loose a fictionalized depiction of the Nazi werewolf plan and never so few a Frank Sinatra lead picture that focused on OSS operatives in Burma before reaching a critical and Commercial Peak where John sturge is The Great Escape and Robert alrich is the dirty dozen of the two Bronson's turn in the Great Escape stands out arguably as his finest hour here he played An American bommer crewman in turned as a prisoner of war who Endeavors valiantly to dig Escape tunnels underneath the camp they're being held more than just drawing upon Bronson's b29 days these suspenseful tunnel sequences also record his days as a minor during the Great Depression where he conducted dangerous work under perilous conditions number two Christopher Lee the most obligatory behind the scenes trivia with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is that vgo mortson broke his foot when he kicked that or helmet in The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers the second most applicatory bit of trivia is that San actor Christopher Lee quite threateningly refused direction from Jackson during the character's death scene in return the King which involved the wizard being stabbed from behind by wormtongue have you any idea what kind of noise happens when someone is stabbed in the back Lee recalled saying to Jackson because I do yeah Lee apparently went on to discuss in Jackson's own words quote a very clandestine part of World War II intimating his own firsthand experiences of the conflict and what people sound like when they're stabbed which it stands to reason the British actor had a great deal of familiarity with Lee served in RAF intelligence throughout the second world war taking part in the North African Sicilian and Italian campaigns well also being attached to the SAS as if these exploits weren't already extraordinary enough Lee after also having conducted Espionage missions in Europe helped hunt down Nazi war criminals after the war's conclusion completing his military service in 1946 apart from taking on the iconic roles of sarahan in The Lord of the Rings and Dracula in the hammer horror films some of Le's earliest acting assignments were World War II pictures some of which depicted British Special Forces operations not unlike the ones he may have partaken in himself of these arguably the most famous is the cockal Heroes based on the daring Commando raid that took place in 1942 the superior film in my view though is Nicholas Ray's bitter Victory another genre effort that dealt with Commando subject matter this time with Richard Burton in the lead and North Africa at the setting Lee only had supporting roles in the above films but it's still fascinating to see him show up in material that hits so close to his wartime record and number one Audy Murphy perhaps the strangest and most tragic example of an actor revisiting their wartime experiences on film is Audy Murphy's performance into Helen Back a 1955 film in which Murphy started as himself and relived the battle that won him the Medal of Honor said battle took place in eastern France and saw Murphy repel an entire German Counterattack almost singlehandedly by directing artillery fire and using a 50 cal machine gun stationed at top a friendly tank that had been set Alive by the advancing enemy Murphy was wounded multiple times in the engagement but was able to link backup with his men who successfully drove the opposing German forces away Murphy's heroics were well documented at the time and upon his return from the European theater he was celebrated as a war hero this eventually attracted Hollywood attention and soon Murphy began starring in numerous films mostly Western but also the occasional drama and War picture of which to Helen Back is the most notable example based on Murphy 's 1949 autobiography to Helen Back cast the Medal of Honor recipients as himself something Murphy was initially and understandably reluctant to do given his well documented PTSD his casting ensures that to Helen Back remains one of the most unusual and at times upsetting War films in the 1950s as well as a reminder of Murphy's Fierce acting potential which was cut tragically short when he passed away in a plane crash in 197 71

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Length: 18min 30sec (1110 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2024