R. Lee Ermey
Ronald Lee Ermey | |
|---|---|
 Ermey in November 2006 in Okinawa, Japan | |
| Born | Ronald Lee Ermey March 24, 1944 Emporia, Kansas, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, former drill instructor, voice actor |
| Years active | 1978-present |
| Spouse | Nila Ermey (1975-present) |
| Children | 4 |
Ronald Lee Ermey (born March 24, 1944) is a retired United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, Drill Instructor and actor.
Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, and plastic army men leader Sarge in the Toy Story films.
He has hosted two programs on the History Channel: Mail Call, in which he answered viewers' questions about various militaria both modern and historic; and Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which focused on the development of different types of weapons.
He is currently a board member for the National Rifle Association.
Early life and military career
Ronald Lee Ermey | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "The Gunny" |
| Born | March 24, 1944 Emporia, Kansas |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1961–1972 |
| Rank |  Gunnery Sergeant |
| Unit | MCRD San Diego Marine Wing Support Group 17 |
| Battles / wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards | Meritorious Unit Commendation Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm |
| Other work | Actor |
Born in Emporia, Kansas, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1961. Ermey was 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 discharged in 1972 for several injuries incurred during his tours.[1]
Acting career
Films
Ermey was cast in his first film while attending the University of Manila in the Philippines, using his G.I. Bill benefits. 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,[2] doubling as a technical advisor to director Francis Ford Coppola. He also served as Louis Gossett's technical advisor for the film An Officer and a Gentleman. For the next few years, Ermey played a series of minor film roles until 1987,[citation needed] when he was cast as tough drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.[2] Initially he was intended to be only the technical advisor.[2] Kubrick changed his mind after Ermey put together an instructional tape, in which Ermey went on an extended hair-raising drill instructor tirade towards several extras, convincing Kubrick he was the right person for the role.[2] Seeking absolute military authenticity for the film, Kubrick allowed Ermey to write or edit his own dialogue and improvise on the set, a noted rarity in a Kubrick film. Kubrick later indicated that Ermey was an excellent performer, often needing just two or three takes per scene, also unusual for a Kubrick film.[3] Ermey's performance won critical raves and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor. He later played 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, The Siege of Firebase Gloria, Dead Man Walking, Se7en, Fletch Lives, Leaving Las Vegas, Prefontaine, Saving Silverman, On Deadly Ground, Life, Man of the House, Toy Soldiers, The Salton Sea, as well as the remakes of Willard and as an evil sadist in the two The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. Ermey also lent his voice to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Toy Story 3, as well as Roughnecks and X-Men 3. He usually appears 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 and Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey.
Television work
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2011) |
On Mail Call, Ermey discussed weaponry, tactical matters, and military history. Mail Call's subject matter was dictated by viewer emails; one episode may have focused on an M1A1 Battle Tank, while another may have involved World War II secrets, while a third might have been focused on elements of Medieval warfare. The set consisted of a military tent, other military gear and weapons, and Ermey's personal jeep armed with his own 30 cal. M1919 Browning machine gun.
Ermey traveled to Kuwait in June 2003 during the first phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom to film mail distribution by the Defense Department to service personnel for an episode of Mail Call. According to a 2005 episode of Mail Call filmed at Whiteman Air Force Base, he is the 341st person to fly in the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Ermey guest-starred in the episode "Second Chance" of Human Target.
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 several episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", Ermey voiced Colonel Leslie "Hap" Hapablap.
In the episode of SpongeBob SquarePants,"Inmates of Summer", he voiced an irate warden of a maximum security island prison who demoralized the inmates whenever he could.
In 2009, Ermey hosted a second History Channel show entitled Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which discussed the developmental history of various weapons used by militaries of today.
In late 2010, Ermey starred in a GEICO commercial as a former-drill-sergeant-turned-therapist who insults a client, in parody of some of his iconic characters.[2] Ermey also was featured each week on ESPN's College GameDay. His role was to insult the experts' incorrect picks from the previous week.
Also in 2010, Ermey guest-starred as a violent sexual offender recently released from prison in the episode "Trophy" on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
In 2011, Ermey starred as a drill instructor on the X-Play special on Bulletstorm.
Video games
In 1993, R. Lee Ermey played a character named Lyle The Handyman in the full-motion video game Sega CD game Double Switch, a game also starring Corey Haim and Deborah Harry.
Ermey lends 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. In the game Fallout 3, there is a recruitable companion named Sergeant RL-3, a modified military robot with a personality very similar to Ermey (the companion's name is a reference to Ermey's initials wherein the 3 is leetspeak for the letter 'e'). In the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion there is a character named "Lieutenant Emry" that speaks some of Ermey's signature lines from Full Metal Jacket. He will also be doing the voice of General Charles Lee in the upcoming Assassin's Creed installment called "Assassin's Creed III".
Personal life
Ermey married his wife Nila in 1975. They have four children. In Ermey's television show Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey he refers to his wife as "Mrs. Gunny".
Military appearances
On May 17, 2002, he received an honorary post-service promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) from the Commandant of the Marine Corps General James L. Jones in recognition of his continuing support to Americans in military service, a rank consistent with Ermey's character as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket.
He has also conducted morale tours visiting United States troops in locations such as Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in which he filmed parts for his television show Mail Call. While at Bagram Airfield he held a USO type show in which he portrayed GySgt Hartman and conducted a comedy routine. He also did the same at Doha, Qatar and Camp Doha, Kuwait City, Kuwait, in 2003.
Sponsorship
Ermey is an official spokesman for Glock firearms, Tru-Spec apparel, Tupperware, Victory Motorcycles, Hoover, SOG Specialty Knives, and the Young Marines, and has also appeared in commercials for Coors Light, Dick's Sporting Goods, GEICO and pistachio nuts. He can also be seen giving a service announcement for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, demanding that viewers be quiet during the film.[4]
Military honors
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After retirement, R. Lee Ermey was also retroactively awarded the Drill Instructor Ribbon due to his prior service as a Marine Corps Recruit Training Instructor as well as the Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation for unit activities during the Vietnam War.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Boys in Company "C" | Staff Sergeant Loyce (Drill Instructor, Co. 163) | |
| 1979 | Apocalypse Now | Eagle Thrust Seven helicopter pilot | uncredited |
| 1984 | Purple Hearts | Gunny | |
| 1987 | Full Metal Jacket | Gunnery Sergeant Hartman | One of the rare performances Stanley Kubrick ever allowed to be improvised |
| Miami Vice | Detective Sergeant Ernest Haskell | guest star "Rising Sun of Death" Episode 9, Season 4 TV series | |
| 1988 | Mississippi Burning | Mayor Tilman | |
| 1989 | The Siege of Firebase Gloria | Sergeant Major Bill Hafner/Narrator | Uncredited screenwriter |
| Fletch Lives | Jimmy Lee Farnsworth | ||
| Demonstone | Colonel Joe Haines | ||
| 1990 | The Take | Weller | television film |
| I'm Dangerous Tonight | Lieutenant Ackman | television film | |
| 83 Hours 'Til Dawn | Glen Fairling | television film | |
| The Terror Within II | Von Demming | ||
| The Rift aka Endless Descent | Captain Phillips | ||
| 1991 | Toy Soldiers | General Kramer | |
| True Identity | Houston's Boss | uncredited | |
| Kid | Luke | ||
| 1993 | Hexed | Detective Ferguson | |
| Sommersby | Dick Mead | ||
| Body Snatchers | General Platt | ||
| Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. | Marshal Brisco County Senior | ||
| Double Switch (Video Game) | Lyle (the handyman) | Credited as R. Lee Emrey in the Sega CD version | |
| 1994 | French Silk | Chief Crowder | television film |
| On Deadly Ground | Stone | ||
| Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story | Mr. Byrd | uncredited; television film | |
| Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | Mess Hall Guard | uncredited | |
| Chain of Command | Benjamin Brewster | ||
| Savate | Benedict | uncredited | |
| Love Is a Gun | Frank Deacon | ||
| Kidnapped | |||
| 1995 | Murder in the First | Judge Clawson | |
| Leaving Las Vegas | Conventioneer | ||
| Se7en | Police Captain | ||
| The X-Files | Reverend Findley | episode "Revelations" TV series | |
| The Simpsons | Colonel Leslie Hapablap | voice only episode "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" animated series | |
| Toy Story | Sarge "Sergeant" | voice only animated film | |
| Under the Hula Moon | Lt. Col. J. P. McIntire | ||
| Dead Man Walking | Clyde Percy | ||
| Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back | Preacher Brian | uncredited | |
| 1996 | Space: Above and Beyond | Sergeant Major Bougus | television film |
| The Frighteners | The late Master Sergeant Hiles | ||
| Soul of the Game | Wilkie | television film | |
| 1997 | Dead Men Can't Dance | Sen. Pullman T. Fowler | |
| The Angry Beavers | Sergeant Goonther | voice only episode "Fancy Prance/H2Whoa!" animated series | |
| Weapons of Mass Distraction | Billy Paxton | television film | |
| Rough Riders | Secretary of State John Hay | ||
| Prefontaine | Bill Bowerman | ||
| Cracker | Lieutenant Fry | TV series | |
| Switchback | Sheriff Buck Olmstead | ||
| The Sender | Colonel Rosewater | ||
| 1998 | Gunshy | Jerry | |
| 1999 | You Know My Name | Nix | television film |
| Life | Older Sheriff Pike | ||
| Avalanche | Gary | ||
| Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 | President Richard Benson | ||
| SpongeBob SquarePants | Prison Warden | voice only episode "The Inmates of Summer" and "To Save a Squirrel" | |
| Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot | General Thorton | TV series | |
| The Apartment Complex | Frank Stanton | ||
| Toy Story 2 | Sarge "Sergeant" | voice only animated film | |
| 2000 | The Chaos Factor | Col. Ben Wilder | |
| Skipped Parts | Caspar Callahan | ||
| Roughnecks: STC | Sky Marshall Sanchez | ||
| Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins | Sarge | voice only animated direct-to-video film | |
| Jericho | Marshall | ||
| 2001 | Saving Silverman | Coach Norton | |
| Recess: School's Out | Colonel O'Malley | voice only animated film | |
| Family Guy | Coach | voice only episode "Mr. Saturday Knight" animated series | |
| Taking Sides | General Wallace | ||
| Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel | General Barnaky | voice only video game | |
| Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex | Wa-Wa the Water Elemental | voice only video game | |
| On the Borderline | Captain Elias | ||
| Real War: Air, Land, Sea | voice only video game | ||
| Real War: Rogue States | voice only video game | ||
| 2002 | Run Ronnie Run! | Lead Kidnapper | |
| The Salton Sea | Verne Plummer | ||
| Invader Zim | Sergeant Hobo 678 | voice only animated series | |
| History Channel's Mail Call | Gunny (Himself) | TV series | |
| Frank McKlusky, C.I. | Jockey Master | uncredited direct-to-video | |
| A.K.A. Birdseye | Sheriff Gathers | ||
| Scrubs | Janitor's father | guest star episode "My Old Man" TV series | |
| Y.M.I. | John | ||
| 2003 | Willard | Frank Martin | |
| The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Sheriff Hoyt | ||
| 2004 | The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy | Drill Sergeant | voice only animated series |
| Father of the Pride | Sergeant Bunny | voice only animated series episode "One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Girlfriend" | |
| 2005 | House | John House | Appeared in the episode "Daddy's Boy" TV series |
| Man of the House | Captain Nichols | ||
| 2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | Sergeant | voice only |
| The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | Charlie Hewitt/Sheriff Hoyt | ||
| 2007 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Unnamed drill sergeant (the Inmates of Summer) | voice only |
| 2008 | Solstice | Leonard | |
| House | John House | Appeared in the episode "Birthmarks" TV series | |
| Eleventh Hour | Bob Henson (Farmer) | Appeared in the episode "Agro" TV series | |
| 2009 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Wildcat | animated series |
| History Channel's Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey | Gunny (Himself) | TV series | |
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | Sarge "Sergeant" | voice only animated film |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Walter Burlock | Appeared in the episode "Trophy" TV series | |
| 2011 | Family Guy | Drill Sergeant with Alzheimers Disease | Appeared in the Episode "Grumpy Old Man" TV series |
Music samples
Samples of Ermey from Full Metal Jacket are used in several albums:
- Fear Factory's album Soul of a New Machine on the track "Suffer Age".
- Ministry's album The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, on the track "Thieves". The sound-alike voice credited as "Sgt. Major" on the same band's Rio Grande Blood is not Ermey, but is actually Ermey's own drill instructor from Parris Island.[5]
- Front Line Assembly's track "Millennium"
- Grendel's track "Soilbleed V.3"
- Combichrist's track "This Is My Rifle"
- Modulate's track "Skullfuck"
- Killarmy's track "War Face"
- Terre Thaemlitz's release "Soil", on the track "Yer Ass is Grass"
- Quotes of Ermey saying, "Now go home and snuff that bitch!" "Here you are all equally worthless." "Get on your knees, scumbag!" "Who's the slimy little communist shit, twinkle-toed cocksucker down here who just signed his own death warrant?" and others appear on multiple songs by the band Killwhitneydead.
- Samples of the line "Here you are all equally worthless" from Full Metal Jacket are repeated throughout the song "Never Get Caught" by American Head Charge.
- Zac Brown Band's Chicken Fried, a cut from Full Metal Jacket of him calling cadence for some COD (Close Order Drill)is heard just before the intro.
Other media
- Provided the voice for a speaking "motivational action figure" depicting him in USMC drill instructor uniform with pre-programmed voice messages activated by pressing a button on the figure. The figures' dialogue comes in two versions, one with (somewhat) family-friendly language and one with "Extra-Salty" dialogue which includes profanity, the latter of which is packaged with an R rating as a warning to consumers. 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.
References
- ^ http://www.rleeermey.com/about.php
- ^ a b c d e Clark, Doug (August 31, 2010). "'Gunny' has a terrifying bark, but he won't bite". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
- ^ "The Kubrick Site: The Rolling Stone Interview". Visual-memory.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- ^ Drafthouse PSAs
- ^ http://www.jimdero.com/News%202006/MinistrystaysonmessageJuly2.htm
External links
- Official website for R. Lee Ermey
- Official website for Gunny Ermey's Mail Call Forum
- Official website for Mail Call
- R. Lee Ermey at IMDb
- R. Lee Ermey interview with Radar magazine
- Articles of Fandom Gunny Sarg - Sound off like you got a pair
- Alamo Drafthouse Don't Talk PSA