Ronald Lee Ermey is an American actor, best known for his role as the austere Gunnery
Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination
for Best Supporting Actor.
He is a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant and an honorary Gunnery Sergeant;
during his tenure in the U.S. Marine Corps, he served as a drill instructor.
Ermey has often been typecast for the roles of authority figures, such as Mayor Tilman
in the film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre remake, Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives, Police Captain in Seven,
plastic army men leader Sarge in the Toy Story films, and the Warden in SpongeBob SquarePants.
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.
Early life and military career 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.
Ermey served in Vietnam 14 months with the Marine Wing Support Group 17 beginning in
1968.
He then served two tours of duty in Okinawa, Japan, during which he rose to the rank of
Staff Sergeant and was medically discharged in 1972 for several injuries incurred during
his tours.
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 in the 1978 Vietnam-era film The Boys in Company
C, which later brought Ermey to the attention of Stanley Kubrick.
Ermey then played an Air Cavalry pilot in Apocalypse Now, doubling as a technical advisor
to director Francis Ford Coppola.
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.
Initially he was intended to be only the technical advisor.
Kubrick changed his mind after Ermey put together an instructional tape, in which he went on
an extended hair-raising drill instructor tirade towards several extras, convincing
Kubrick he was himself the right man for the role.
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.
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.
Ermey has since appeared in approximately sixty films, including Purple Hearts, Mississippi
Burning, The Siege of Firebase Gloria, Dead Man Walking, Seven, Fletch Lives, Leaving
Las Vegas, Prefontaine, Saving Silverman, On Deadly Ground, Sommersby 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 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.
He also guest-starred in the episode "Second Chance" of Human Target.
Ermey also made guest appearances on theTV drama House, playing the role of Dr. Gregory
House's father, who was a decorated Naval Aviator while serving in the Marine Corps,
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 the episode of The Angry Beavers, "Fancy Prance", he voiced the Lipizzaner Stallions'
instructor, Drill Sergeant Goonther.
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-instructor-turned-therapist
who insults a client, in parody of some of his iconic characters.
Ermey also was featured each week on ESPN's College GameDay.
His role was to insult the experts' incorrect picks from the previous week.
In that same year, Ermey appeared in the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Trophy"
as a paroled sex offender.
In 2011, Ermey starred as a drill instructor on the X-Play special on Bulletstorm.
In the "Family Guy" episode "Grumpy Old Man" Ermey guest-starred, again as a drill instructor.
Video games In 1993, Ermey played Lyle The Handyman in
the full-motion video game Mega-CD/Sega CD game Double Switch, a game also starring Corey
Haim and Deborah Harry.
Ermey lends his voice to several video games, including Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of
Steel and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.
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.
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.
In 2014, he did voice over work for the popular game Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Commercials Ermey is an official spokesman for Black Book,
Glock firearms, TRU-SPEC apparel, Tupperware, Victory Motorcycles, Hoover, SOG Specialty
Knives, WD-40, and the Young Marines, and has appeared in commercials for Coors Light,
Dick's Sporting Goods, GEICO and pistachio nuts.
He has provided intro for the PBR.
He can be seen giving a service announcement for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, demanding that
viewers be quiet during the film.
He is a board member for the National Rifle Association.
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, Ermey received an honorary
post-service promotion to Gunnery Sergeant 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
Al Kut, Iraq, and 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.
Toys for Tots speech In late December 2010, Ermey criticized the
Obama administration's economic policies while speaking at a Toys for Tots rally, stating
that it was difficult to raise money for the charity because the "economy sucks."
He went on to say:
"We should all rise up, and we should stop this administration from what they're doing
because they're destroying this country.
They're driving us into bankruptcy so that they can impose socialism on us, and that's
exactly what they're doing, and I'm sick and damn tired of it and I know you are too."
In January 2011, Ermey apologized for the comments on his website, saying:
I regret that I delivered a monologue that was inappropriately critical of the President...
My comments were misguided, and emotionally based, and for that I am truly sorry.
Military honors
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 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 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.
In the Green Lantern series of comics published by DC, it is revealed that Green Lantern Kilowog,
who trains all new Green Lantern recruits, was himself trained by a Green Lantern named
Ermey Had a notable appearance on The Howard Stern
Show in October 2002 appearing on the show as Sgt.
Hartman See also
Biography portal United States Marine Corps portal
References Notes
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 the Internet Movie Database
R. Lee Ermey at the TCM Movie Database R. Lee Ermey at AllMovie