R. Lee Ermey

Ronald Lee Ermey was born March 24, 1944 in Emporia, Kansas. R. Lee Ermey is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant and Golden Globe Award-nominated actor. Ermey 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. Ermey has turned that military experience into a great career as an actor in Hollywood. He has often played the roles of authority figures, such as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine and Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. He has hosted two militainment programs on the History Channel: Mail Call, in which he answers viewers' questions about various militaria both modern and historic; and Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which focuses specifically on the development of different types of weapons.