James Garner’s first love wasn’t acting. He wanted to serve his country, and did so as a merchant Marine during the tail end of WWII. His real name is James Scott Bumgarner, and he was so rapt about the idea, that he intentionally dropped out of school and lied about his age so he could be taken in. At the time, the merchant Marines were supplying crucial aid to Europe.
After the war, he went back to school and dropped out again, this time to join the Oklahoma National Guard. He was drafted to serve in the Korean War, where he was awarded two Purple Hearts. After his service, he eventually pursued his love for acting and moved back to California.
Mr. T
Laurence Tureaud, better known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler of the 1980s. He joined the army and became a military policeman back in the seventies, whereupon a punishment for a minor misdeed inadvertently got him a promotion to squad leader. He was the “Top Trainee of the Cycle,” in 1975.
After his military service, Mr. T worked as a highly-paid bodyguard for $3,000 a night, until Sylvester Stallone met him by happenstance and offered him the life-changing opportunity of playing Clubber Lang in Rocky III.
Sammy Davis Jr.
Even before Sammy Davis Jr. became famous for his music and acting, he had that fizzle of energy in him that made people notice his infectious talent and skills. So when the Second World War started and Davis Jr. drafted, his immediate superiors thought he could serve better entertaining the troops weary from the war, than in the battlefield.
He reaped a lot of benefits out of it upon his return to America, because it reflected brilliantly well on his work. He was given a position in the Rat Pack, a group led by Frank Sinatra himself.
Harry Dean Stanton
When World War II broke out, Harry Dean Stanton immediately took the chance to sign up for the navy. Like many young men of his day, Stanton was livid, eager to participate in the war effort against evil regimes. This was after he’d already dropped out of college to study acting, but he knew it was a once in a lifetime chance. It was embarrassing to be an able lad left back home in wartime.
He served in the battle of Okinawa, aboard a landing ship, as a galley cook. After the war, he went on to pursue other opportunities in journalism, then went on to radio, before he finally made the decision to stick to acting.
Harvey Keitel
One of Hollywood’s elite, Harvey Keitel, who has appeared in many box office hits, like The Last Temptation of Christ, Pulp Fiction, and Taxi Driver, is one of the band of brave souls in the entertainment industry that enlisted in the army.
This Golden Globe Award nominee has an amazing mind,and was once quoted as saying, “for me the Marine Corps was a spiritual journey, it’s not about war.” In 1956, he dropped everything to join the Marines. When we say dropped, we mean he left University. He then served in Lebanon where he was awarded a medal for being a fire team leader. After the war, he flew back to the US and eventually went in as an actor at the New York Actors Studio.