Actors who fought during wartime

Discussions on WW2 and pre-WW2 related movies, games, military art and other fiction.
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Potsdamerplatz
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#121

Post by Potsdamerplatz » 16 Aug 2007, 16:12

FELIX AYLMER
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0043875

During World War I he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

Roger Bartlett
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#122

Post by Roger Bartlett » 16 Aug 2007, 22:31

Beppo Schmidt wrote: Hardy Kruger was a Hitler Youth and served briefly as a Waffen-SS soldier near the end of the war.
There's enough to stir up a new Grass-style hornet's nest. Did he ever talk about this after the war??


PF
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#123

Post by PF » 19 Dec 2007, 16:49

Werner Klemperer aka COlonel Klink and Leon Askin of Hogan's Heroes.
Ironic that both played sterotyped Germans types of World War II when both
had been in the US Army {WW II} _Klemperer as member of Army Entertainment Unit and Askin as a Sgt in the US Army Air Corps.
Eddie Albert of "Green Acres" was a US Navy Officer at Tarawa battle

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phylo_roadking
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#124

Post by phylo_roadking » 20 Dec 2007, 00:57

Here's a question - DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S first appearance AFAIK was in "In Which We Serve" in 1942...yet he ALSO served in the RAF as a radar operator/gunner at RAF Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland here. So....when??? Time out for National Service???

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wolfpaw518
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#125

Post by wolfpaw518 » 20 Dec 2007, 14:51

What a fantastic thread! I knew a few, but not all of this. 8O

neil.

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phylo_roadking
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#126

Post by phylo_roadking » 20 Dec 2007, 16:41

Richard Todd served as an officer and paratrooper during the Second World War with the 7th Batallion of the Parachute Regiment. After landing in Normandy on D-Day as one of the first British officers, he met up with Major John Howard on Pegasus Bridge - he would later appear in two films in which this scene was recreated: in "D-Day the Sixth of June" (1956) he played the commanding officer of the unit in which both of them served, and in "The Longest Day" (1962) he played Major Howard himself.
He ended up playing John Howard after he originally was asked to play HIMSELF and had refused.

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phylo_roadking
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#127

Post by phylo_roadking » 21 Dec 2007, 02:42

There's a comment up the thread about someone not being familiar with Alec Guiness' early career.

link to http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000027/ and you'll realise just how many all-time classics he has appeared in and you're familiar with after all!

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Dare Furor
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#128

Post by Dare Furor » 21 Dec 2007, 05:15

http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/mil ... _wwii.html

This site lists Robert Clary. It doesn't cite any military service.

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phylo_roadking
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#129

Post by phylo_roadking » 21 Dec 2007, 15:42

I think that's the site mentioned up the thread as "one to avoid". I've just gone through the list and 10% of the entries are plain wrong. Many of the rest are woefully short of data that's widely available in the public domain.

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sylvieK4
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#130

Post by sylvieK4 » 21 Dec 2007, 15:50

Did anyone mention John Banner, Sgt. Schultz from "Hogan's Heroes"?
Here is a picture I posted in another thread. It shows a young Banner
posing for a US Army recruiting poster. Native Austrian, and Jewish, Banner
came to the USA in the 1930s. He served in the US Army Air Corps during the war.

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From: http://www.hogansheroesfanclub.com

JodelFlieger
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#131

Post by JodelFlieger » 05 Jan 2008, 21:37

Hello all
the British actor, Sam Kydd,who was a stalwart of many a post-war war film, was,AFAIK, captured at Dunkirk and spent the rest of the war in captivity and wrote a book about his experiences.
regards
JF

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Kim Sung
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#132

Post by Kim Sung » 12 Jan 2008, 17:14

My impression is that this thread is centered on English-speaking actors. You guys omitted an important actor who fought in a war. French actor Alain Delon fought as a paratrooper in Vietnam, where he was dishonorably discharged from the army. I remember seeing a photo in which he was took with his conmrades in Vietnam.

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Kim Sung
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#133

Post by Kim Sung » 12 Jan 2008, 17:19

A famous K-1 fighter, current member of the Croatian parliament Mirko Cro Cop Filipović fought as a soldier of the Croatian side in the Yugoslav Civil War for 5 years. His hometown was burned by ethnic Serbs and his father was killed. In addition, he lost his close friend in a battle. He was starred in the American-Croatian movie 'Untimate Force' in 2005. He has won tremendous popularity in Korea and Japan by showing a ferocious fighting style.

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http://cafe.naver.com/andyhug/113621

Potsdamerplatz
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#134

Post by Potsdamerplatz » 22 Jan 2008, 16:48

Charles Durning certainly had more than his fair share of action during World War II.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001164

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Durning
Charles Durning served as a soldier in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Heart medals, and a Good Conduct Medal.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 21, and landed on D-Day in the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944. Some sources state he was in the 1st Infantry Division at the time, but it is unclear if he was a rifleman or in an artillery unit by 1944.

On Omaha Beach itself, Private Charles Durning was among the first troops to land. Drafted early in the war, he was first assigned as a rifleman with the 398th Infantry Regiment, but later served overseas with the 3rd Army Support troops and the 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion.

Durning was wounded by an “S” Mine on June 15, 1944, at Les Mare des Mares. He was transported by the 499th Medical Collection Company to the 24th Evacuation Hospital. By June 17, he was back in England at the 217th General Hospital. Although severely wounded by shrapnel in the left and right thigh, right hand, the frontal region of the head and the interior left chest wall, Durning recovered quickly and was determined to be “fit for duty” on December 6, 1944. Durning was present for the Battle of the Bulge, the German counter-offensive in December 1944.

He was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge, and was one of the few survivors of the infamous Malmedy massacre of American POWs, perpetrated by a battlegroup under Joachim Peiper of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. "He escaped with two others, and returned to find the remainder murdered."

After being wounded in the chest, Durning was repatriated to the United States where he remained in army hospitals, receiving treatment for both physical and psychological wounds, until discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.
He is well-known for his work today, participating in functions for US veterans and still suffers from nightmares relating to his wartime experiences.

Kind regards.

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Peter H
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#135

Post by Peter H » 07 Feb 2008, 06:56

The German actor Til Kiwe served as Eduard-Heinrich Kiefer in the HG Division during the war.Awarded the Knight's Cross.Captured in North Africa 1943.

Kiefer
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In The Longest Day as Til Kiwe.Played Rommel's aide Helmuth Lang.

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