Compare the Entertainers of 1943 with today

[rogwar]

Somebody sent me this at work so I thought I would pass it along. I'm going to have to research some on Sterling Hayden.

Some of it is a little over the top. Audie Murphy became an actor as a result of his war experience so in my opinion it's a little different. I also acknowledge there is some contraversy regarding the real exposure to danger that some already existing and famous actors faced in WWII.

Anyway, it is nonetheless interesting.

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Subject:  Compare the Entertainers of 1943 with today.

Stars of the 1940's  & The Entertainers of 2003 have been in all of the news media lately. It seems that Newspapers, Television and Radio has been more than ready to put them and their message before the public. I would like to remind you of what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (60 years ago).  Most of these brave men have since passed on.

Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.

James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with the U.S. Army on D-Day.

Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was a R.A.F. pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured.

David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.

James Stewart flew 20 missions as a B-24 pilot in Europe.
 
Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out) was a waist gunner flying missions on a B-17 in Europe.

Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.

Earnest Borgnine was a U.S. Navy Gunners Mate 1935- 1945.

Charles Durning was a U.S. Army Ranger at Normandy.

Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps.

George C. Scott was a U.S. Marine.

Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV) was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic action as a U.S. Naval officer at Tarawa.

Brian Keith served as a Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.

Lee Marvin was a marine on Saipan when he was wounded.

John Russell was a Marine on Guadalcanal.

Robert Ryan was a U.S. Marine who served with the O.S.S. inYugoslavia.

Tyrone Power was a Marine pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Audie Murphy, little guy from Texas, most decorated serviceman of WWII.

There's not room enough here to tell you all about Actor Sterling Hayden and an actor by the name of Peter Ortiz (Twelve O'clock High, Rio Grande and The Wings of Eagles), for this would turn into a book.

There is a huge gap between the heroics and patriotism of the actors in 1943 and the cowardly despicable posturing of the Hollywood crowd of today. Most of them have no education with substance, never held a real job, attended some back street acting school, and now they are self proclaimed experts on everything. And the media cannot wait to interview them on world affairs.

How did everything get changed around?


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Edit: I found some bio information on Sterling Hayden...

http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Hayden,+Sterling


That guy was great in Dr. Strangelove

[OIO]

holy cow, I didnt know scottie was in D-Day!

[blue1]

James Stewart stayed in the Air Force Reserve long after the war and I think eventually retired as a General or a bird Colonel or something.


Then there's the British actor Richard Todd, who was a paratrooper and took part in the famous Pegasus bridge battle on D day.

There was another British actor whose name escapes me now but he appeared in the the Guns of Navarone.  He was actually dropped behind enemy lines in Greece during the war to work with partizans.

But let's not forget John Wayne who dodged the war and on at least one occasion was roundly booed by wounded Marines when he visited a hospital.


To be fair to the current crop of actors we don't really have wars like that anymore, thank goodness. So they could hardly take part anyway.  Most people around these days have never served in the military anyway.

But what about Stephen Seagal, didn't he claim to be something. What about Chuck Norris? Was he ever in the military. But of course you could hardly call him an actor anyway.

What about the actors who fly, Tom Cruise owns a P51, Harrison Ford is a keen aviator, John Travolta flies.  Do they have any credibility?

[GtoRA2]

DO you have any links on the John wayne thing?

My understanding is he was too old and they would not take him.





SO what if an actor can fly, that makes him no more or no less of a looser in my book.

[T0J0]

Jimmy Stewart flew a B-17 by the name "Out house mouse" during the war and whats left of it is at the Warbirds museum/graveyard at Kissimee florida, at least that the story they tell you during the tour...

[T0J0]

How bout:
Glenn Miller and most of the members of the band joined different branches of the service..
 
You would never see today's muscians joining up for a cause the record company would have none of that...

But thats why they called it the Greatest Generation ehhhh!!

[2Slow]

I think todays crew of showbiz no nothings should keep their pie holes shut.  

Martin Sheen does a nice job acting as President in West Wing, heck I would have voted for him in the Westwing world.  The key thing to remember, he and they are acting.  That is their profession, to fool us into believing.

[midnight Target]

Sterling Hayden -

Won Silver Star and citation from Tito of Yugoslavia. Briefly flirted with Communist Party membership due to friendship with Yugoslav Communists. Returned to film work, which he despised, in order to pay for a succession of sailing vessels. As Red Scare deepens in U.S., he cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee, confessing his brief Communist ties. Ever after regretted this action, holding himself in enormous contempt for what he considered "ratting".

[GRUNHERZ]

He made the right decision, communism is the greatest evil of all time.

[Maverick]

Probably the worlds best clown and comedian, Red Skelton also served during WW2. He was in the Army as an enlisted man.

Those were actors and entertainers that had a sense of integrity and honor, sadly lacking from the drivel we see now.

[hawk220]

I'm sure if we had a similar world war with the DRAFT that a number of our entertainers would find themselves in uniform and I'm sure a number of them would account nicely in battle as did their 1940s counterparts.

[mietla]

Originally posted by T0J0
Jimmy Stewart flew a B-17 by the name "Out house mouse" during the war and whats left of it is at the Warbirds museum/graveyard at Kissimee florida, at least that the story they tell you during the tour...

"Out House Mouse" is being restored by Tom Reilly and the crew. I'm a proud graduate of Tom's Warbird Restoration School.

[Shuckins]

Most of the actors involved in the war in 1943 were volunteers, not draftees.

Not only were they better patriots, they were better actors as well.

Regrds, Shuckins

[Holden McGroin]

Originally posted by GtoRA2
DO you have any links on the John wayne thing?

My understanding is he was too old and they would not take him.

I understood that John Wayne screwed up his knees (or hip or whatever) when he played football at USC.  That's what made him walk distinctively, and caused ineligibility for service.

Jimmy Stewart did indeed achieve the rank of a General.

George Kennedy (Airport, airport, airport, and Police Squad) served in Patton's Third Army.

[rpm]

Cesar Romero (Joker in Batman) was an enlisted man in The Coast Guard during WWII. There was something about a huge party he threw for a bunch of Enlisted guys in Hollywood right before they shipped out for the Pacific. I remember my Dad telling me about it. He also used to talk about the comedian Joe E. Brown (The old rich guy in Some Like It Hot) travelling around the Pacific Theater doing USO shows. Brown would crouch behind the pilots seat and the canopy of a P-38 travelling to the forward bases. He traveled more than 200,000 miles to entertain troops.  Joe E. Brown and Ernie Pyle were the only two civilians to recieve the Bronze Star.