that "introducing" credit for many roles is to highlight a relatively new star and is very frequently not the first film role.I always thought that "Zulu" was his first film. IIRC, the opening credits even have an "and introducing ..." for him.
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But ... I recently (like, this last weekend) found out that he was in the 1956 movie "A Hill in Korea". He had said that he believed he was cast due to his experience in the war. Interesting fact ... one of the "big stars" in that film was ... Stanley Baker!
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Famous Veterans - Did you know they served?
- Thread starter luvmysuper
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Ah ... so used more loosely than I was interpreting the term.
Certainly, I think Zulu was Caine's first "big" role in a long and illustrious film career.
I did not know this!
The fact that so many famous people from many of our childhoods is at once a testament to them and to the scope of WWII.
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
Someone beat me to Chuck Norris. Actually, he was not a Marine, though, he was Air Force. He got his first black belt from Kwan Chang Nim Jae Chul Shin, who I had the pleasure to train under with my kids. Norris' first art was traditional Tang Soo Do, and he started his martial arts career under KCN Shin at Osan Air Base in Korea.
My, so far, only brush with fame was meeting Jimmy Stewart in Vietnam. He and his wife were on a personal tour through the USO. We shook hands and he was exactly as nice as the characters he portrayed in the movies. He had the rank of General at the time but you wouldn't have guessed it. He spoke with everyone and was kind to all. I am sure he had a schedule to keep but he took his time to listen and talk to everyone.
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- #67
Her Majesty the Truck Driver / Mechanic.
Queen Elizabeth was only 18 years old when she begged her father, King George VI, to take part in helping out during World War II.
She joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service in England that same year, and was known as "Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor." While serving, the young queen drove military trucks and trained as a mechanic — making her, to this day, the only female member of the Royal Family to enter the armed forces.
Bea Arthur was a US Marine.
Before she was Dorothy Zbornak on "The Golden Girls," Emmy Award-winning actress Bea Arthur was a Marine.
Arthur enlisted into the Women's Reserve when she was just 21 years old, first serving as a typist and truck driver. She worked her way up to staff sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1945.
According to official documents, Arthur's supervisors thought she was "argumentative" ... which is not a far cry from the feisty persona she became known for on both "The Golden Girls" and "Maude."
"Wonder Woman" Gal Gadot served in the Israeli Defense Forces for two years.
After Gal Gadot was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, and before she became Wonder Woman in 2017, she served her mandatory two years in the Israeli Defense Forces. During Gadot's assignment, she worked as a "physical fitness specialist," teaching things like gymnastics and calisthenics to the soldiers.
Gadot actually credits her big break in the acting world to her military service, claiming that Justin Lin, the director of "Fast Five" and "Fast & Furious 6," cast her in the role of Gisele because he was impressed with her military background, and her "knowledge of weapons."
Betty White was a World War 2 Logistics handler.
Despite struggling to make ends meet and find work, she put her entire career and aspirations on hold when the war came. White became a volunteer for the American Women’s Volunteer Service. Her role required the responsibility of handling the transportation of military supplies through California. She also volunteered her time hosting events for the troops before their deployments to fight.
She married an Army Air Force pilot in 1945, though the marriage wouldn’t last.
Ruth Westheimer, better known as the sex therapist Dr. Ruth, trained as a sniper in the IDF.
Dr. Ruth is a Holocaust survivor, and after World War II ended, she moved as a teenager to what would become Israel. During her time there, she trained as a sniper due to her small size.
She told the New Yorker in 2013, "I have no idea what the experience would be, if I had to show it. But I was a very good sniper."
I remember the episode where the castaways think they are going to be rescued, and start talking about what they will do upon return to civilisation. Skipper and Gilligan both plan to re-enlist in the Navy ... but a quick check of the handy Navy Regs shows that Skipper is too heavy ... and Gilligan too light ... for the Navy. So the rest of the episode is Skipper undergoing a starvation diet and exercise, with Gilligan nearby getting a continual supply of coconut cream pies.
I did not know that ... impressive.
I knew there was some connection, but not that much. It must have been hard to put on that German uniform, or be in a show with "Nazis", for so many of these actors. But at least they got to know that the show was clearly making fun of the Nazis, so that would take the sting off.
Klemperer's father, Otto Klemperer, was a famous conductor. He was born Jewish, "converted" to Catholicism early in life to be eligible for employment, and was one of the "up and coming" great young conductors in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany right up until Hitler came to power and Klemperer took his family to the US "for the duration".
Not only did he survive being shot during the D-Day landings, but ... if any proof is needed ... he is clearly the "toughest" of all the Star Trek veterans.
The one Red Shirt who lived!
This was very fun to learn about so many of their lives.
There are a few here who were subject's of Mike Rowe's The Way I Heard It podcast, where he tells a short story about a famous figure, using mystery and innuendo before doing a reveal at the end, often leaving the listener pleasantly surprised about the subject.
There are a few here who were subject's of Mike Rowe's The Way I Heard It podcast, where he tells a short story about a famous figure, using mystery and innuendo before doing a reveal at the end, often leaving the listener pleasantly surprised about the subject.
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- #71
That's the best Podcast ever!
Although at the peak of his career, and too old to be drafted, Glenn Miller joined the Army Air forces. His plane was lost over the English channel in 1944. Lots of conspiracy theories with that one.
