Background and career
Ronald Lee Ermey (March 24, 1944 – April 15, 2018) was an American actor and U.S. Marine drill instructor. He achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Ermey was also a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and an honorary gunnery sergeant. Ermey was often typecast in authority figure roles, such as Mayor Tilman in the film Mississippi Burning (1988), Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine (1997), Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and its prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives (1989), a police captain in Seven (1995), plastic army men leader Sarge in the first three films of the Toy Story franchise (1995–2010), Major "Maddogg" Madison in Rocket Power, and John House in House. On television, Ermey hosted two programs on the History Channel: Mail Call, in which he answered viewers' questions about various military issues both modern and historic; and Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which concerned the development of different types of weapons. Ermey also hosted GunnyTime on the Outdoor Channel.
Ronald Lee Ermey was born in Emporia, Kansas, on March 24, 1944, to John Edward (1924–2016) and Betty (née Pantle) Ermey (1926–2004). A few years after his birth, John moved the family (including Ermey and his five brothers) to a small farm outside Kansas City, Kansas. Then, in 1958, when Ermey was 14, his father moved the family to a rural home between Zillah, Washington, and Granger, Washington. As a teenager, Ermey was an admitted "troublemaker and a bit of a hell-raiser" and frequently got into trouble. In 1961, when Ermey was 17, Betty took Ermey to a judge in an attempt to correct his behavior. The judge gave the young Ermey a choice between military service or jail; Ermey chose military service.
Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1961 at age 17 and went through recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California. He served in the aviation support field for a few years before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where Ermey was assigned from 1965 to 1967. Ermey then served in Marine Wing Support Group 17 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan. In 1968, he was ordered to South Vietnam with MWSG-17 and spent 14 months in-country. The remainder of his service was on Okinawa, where Ermey was advanced to Staff Sergeant (E-6). He was medically retired in 1972 because of several injuries. On May 17, 2002, Ermey received an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) by Commandant of the Marine Corps General James L. Jones.
Ermey regularly took the opportunity to speak with new recruits, visiting the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. An episode of the History Channel's Mail Call was filmed at MCRD San Diego. He also acted as a spokesperson for Toys for Tots.
Ermey appeared in over 100 films and television shows, including roles as a voice actor.
After his discharge from the Marines, Ermey attended the University of Manila in the Philippines, using his G.I. Bill benefits. While there, Ermey was cast in his first film role, playing a Marine drill instructor in The Boys in Company C (1978). Then, while serving as a technical advisor to director Francis Ford Coppola, Ermey was also cast as a First Air Cavalry helicopter pilot in one scene in Apocalypse Now (1979). He also appeared as a Gunnery Sergeant in 1984's Purple Hearts: shot, like all his early films, in the Philippines.
