R. Lee Ermey
Marine Corps drill instructor and later Golden Globe-nominated actor, often playing the roles of authority figures, such as Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning and Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. He currently hosts Mail Call, a military history program on History (TV channel), where Ermey answers military-related viewer questions.
Ermey is also an official spokesman for Glock firearms, Tupperware, Hoover, and the Young Marines, and has also appeared in commercials for Coors Light and Dick's Sporting Goods.
Biography
Early life and military career
Born in Emporia, Kansas, Ermey enlisted in the U.S. A court judge gave him the choice of the military or jail.
He later joked that the Marine Corps "put a screeching halt to my unconventional manner." He spent two years as a drill instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, and Parris Island, South Carolina from 1965 to 1967. In 1968, Ermey arrived in Vietnam where he served for 14 months with the Marine Wing Support Group 17.
He then served two tours of duty in Okinawa, Japan, during which he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6) and was medically retired in 1972 for several injuries incurred during his tours. On May 17, 2002 he received an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) from Marine Corps Commandant James L.
Jones in recognition of his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann in the film Full Metal Jacket.
Acting career
Ermey was cast in his first movie while attending the University of Manila in the Philippines, using his G.I. He first played a Marine drill instructor (SSgt Loyce) in the 1978 Vietnam-era film The Boys in Company "C", which brought Ermey to the attention of Stanley Kubrick in later years.
Ermey then played an Air Cavalry Officer in Apocalypse Now, doubling as a technical advisor to director Francis Ford Coppola on that film. For the next few years, Ermey played a series of minor film roles until 1987, when he was cast as tough drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket; Ermey also served as the technical advisor on the film.
Initially, he was only intended to be the technical advisor, but Kubrick changed his mind after Ermey put together an instructional tape to convince Kubrick he was the right person for the role, in which Ermey went on an extended hair-raising drill instructor tirade towards several Royal Marines cast as extras, all the while being pelted by oranges and tennis balls, and managing to do so without repeating himself, stopping, or even flinching. Kubrick later indicated that Ermey was an excellent performer, often needing just two or three takes per scene, also a noted rarity for a Kubrick film.
Ermey was so convincing on set as the DI, that in one instance, he barked an order at Kubrick, at which point Kubrick instinctively stood at attention and followed orders before realising what happened. Ermey's performance won critical raves and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor.
He would subsequently play a tough drill instructor in the pilot episode of Space: Above and Beyond and ghost of a drill instructor in the film The Frighteners, both similar to his character in Full Metal Jacket.
He has since appeared in approximately sixty films, including Mississippi Burning, Dead Man Walking, Se7en, Leaving Las Vegas, Prefontaine, Saving Silverman, On Deadly Ground, Life, Man of the House, Toy Soldiers, as well as the remakes of Willard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He has also served as a voice-actor, usually in a commanding military role, for shows such as Kim Possible, The Simpsons, Family Guy, SpongeBob SquarePants, Miami Vice, House, Scrubs, My Life As a Teenage Robot and Invader Zim, in addition to hosting the documentary series Mail Call.
Many rumors put him in the role of Colonel Hoffman of the upcoming Gears of War movie.
Ermey has lent his distinctive voice to several video games, including Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (as General Barnaky) and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (as Wa-Wa). He also made a cameo in Real War: Air, Land, Sea, a retail real-time strategy computer game based on the official Joint Chiefs of Staff training game.
Jones, becoming the first retired military member in the history of the United States Marine Corps to be promoted.
He has also conducted morale tours visiting U.S. troops in locations such as Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan in which he filmed parts for his television show Mail Call.
'Mail Call's subject matter is dictated by viewer emails; one episode may focus on an M1A1 Battle Tank, while another may involve World War II secrets, while a third might focus on elements of Medieval warfare. The set consists of a military tent, other military gear and weapons, and Ermey's personal jeep armed with his own 30 cal.
Commercial breaks are signaled with typical DI type language, such as,"Goin' to the can? I don't think so. Keep your butt parked on that couch!"
Ermey also made guest appearances on the hit TV drama House, playing the role of Dr.
Gregory House's father, who was a decorated pilot of the USMC (Birthmarks, Daddy's Boy), and the sitcom Scrubs, playing the Janitor's father. He has also voiced Wildcat in an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Military awards
Graphical representation of Ermey's USMC awards
Combat Action Ribbon
Meritorious Unit Commendation
Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze service star
Drill Instructor Ribbon
Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Rifle Expert Badge
Pistol Sharpshooter Badge
Filmography
Other media
Action figure featuring Ermey's voice and likeness
Samples of Ermey from Full Metal Jacket are used in several albums:
Fear Factory's Suffer Age.
Ministry’s album The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, on the track "Thieves".
One of these figurines also appears on occasion on Mail Call, wherein it is often referred to as 'Mini-Lee' by the host, sometimes seen berating a G.I. Joe figurine.
In the early 1990s, appeared as a Martian pilot in a training video for Virtual World Entertainment's game "Red Planet," alongside other actors such as Cheech Marin, Nora Dunn, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Joan Severance, and Judge Reinhold.
In one showing of a UFC: Fight Night Live event, Ermey was shown on camera as a guest along with an audience of US Marines.
A Japanese audiobook/comic parody on "Learning Japanese"-books; Drill Sergeant Maritan contains several quotes of Ermey from Full Metal Jacket, such as "I bet you could suck a golfball through a garden hose" and "Who said that? Who the fuck said that? Who's the slimy little communist shit, twinkle-toed cocksucker down here who just signed his own death warrant?"
Pani Poni Dash, an anime which bases its humor heavily on parody and references has one scene which clearly parodies Ermey from Full Metal Jacket, featuring an animated drill instructor who looks just like Ermey.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, another anime series, features one episode where the main character is put in charge of a weak, effete rugby team and whips them into shape, berating them in a similar manner as Hartman and using similar quotes from Full Metal Jacket.
The computer game Star Trek: Armada II contains a reference to Ermey.