hollywood movie stars who served in aviation in ww 2

[T J Johansen]

William Conrad, A.K.A. Cannon, A.K.A. Nero Wolfe, A.K.A. Fatman (Jake and the fatman) was a fighter pilot if I remember correctly!

T J

[oscardeuce]

Can we add any from Korea, Viet Nam, or Desert Storm etc? They kind of suddenly seem to drop off after WWII.

[Cvairwerks]

Not from Hollywood, but Chad Henning(?) of the Cowboys was an A-10 driver during DS1.

[Don Martin]

Don't forget Ted Williams(Boston Red Sox) was a Marine Corps Pilot (F-4U) but was waiting for to go to the PTO when the war ended. In Korea, he flew 39 missions with VMF-311 in F-9Fs.

[tom d. friedman]

jackie coogan, childhood star of the silent films during the 1920's, & best remembered alias uncle fester from the adams family tv series flew waco cg-4 gliders in the cbi, & i think he even collaborated with the oss, the grandaddy of our current cia while serving as a glider pilot great posts!!! keep em coming!!!

[Dave Homewood]

Great thread. I started one very similar last year on the Key FlyPast forum and man it turned out to be a fascinating one. Lots of famous airmen from WWII

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showth ... ght=famous

[ww2John]

...speaking of Ted Williams, not only did he serve in WWII & the "Korean Police Action", John Glenn, no slouch as a fighter pilot himself, called Teddy Baseball the best fighter pilot he ever flew with in combat (or something v-e-r-y similar).

[N3Njeff]

Kris Kirstofferson, flew hueys in Vietnam.
R. LEE, from mail call, and a ton of movies, Vietnam Marine.

Klinger from MASH, a Actual Korean War Vet.

[John Lane]

I can't believe you guys missed Walter "Jack" Palance, B-24 driver in Europe! Ed McMahn, Corsair jock! Ted Williams, Hellcat & Corsair pilot! Andy Rooney, B-17 Gunner! Jimmy Stewart, B-24 -B-29 Pilot! All good stuff and god bless them all for what the did!!

[tom d. friedman]

1 oops their. andy rooney was a war correspondent for the military publication stars & stripes. he accompanied a b-17 crew on a few dicey missions, & wrote of the harrowing experiences. those few missions had quite an impact on him, & helped shape his stellar career as a journalist. i love that smart ass rooney & his bone dry sense of humor!!

[Originalboxcar]

I can't believe you guys missed Walter "Jack" Palance, B-24 driver in Europe!

Says here that he was wounded while still in training

http://www.b24bestweb.com/b24bestweb-Fa ... T%20ALTMAN

Probably was trying to fly and do 1 armed push-ups at the same time

regards,

t~

[Richard W.]

I remember seeing Jack Palance interviewed by Dick Cavett, a long time ago. It has stuck in my memory because he was one of my favorite actors, and of course I was fascinated by the war.

He was very reticent when Cavett brought up his AAC service. He was obviously annoyed, and gave DC his scary look.

Would not say anything, so after an uncomfortable few minutes, DC moved on.

[Richard W.]

Kris Kirstofferson, flew hueys in Vietnam.
R. LEE, from mail call, and a ton of movies, Vietnam Marine.

Klinger from MASH, a Actual Korean War Vet.

I believe that Kris Kristofferson served only in the U.S. and Germany before leaving the Army in 1965.

Jamie Farr did a tour in Japan and Korea, but it was after the Korean War, in the mid-Fifties.

[DryMartini]

Naval Institute Press had a book series on this subject -

Stars in Blue : Movie Actors in America's Sea Services
by Wise, James E., Jr.; Rehill, Anne C.

STARS IN KHAKI - MOVIE ACTORS IN THE ARMY AND THE AIR SERVICES
by Wise, J. E. and Wilderson, P. W. III

International Stars at War
by James E. E. Wise, Scott Baron

Stars in the Corps : Movie Actors in the United States Marines
by Wise, James E., Jr.; Rehill, Anne C.

Good books, listing many, many actors and their service to the country.
I believe they are out of print, but redily available at online used book shops.

[JBoyle]

In his recent book about Johnny Carson, Ed mentions dropping bombs in Korea...doesn't sound like an L-19 mission...I believe he flew combat in Corsairs.