‘Full Metal Jacket’ R. Lee Ermey Dies at Age 74 – KEY Facts About Valiant Marine and Brilliant Actor
The actor Ronald Lee Ermey died at the age of 74. He was famous for his role in Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘Full Metal Jacket’. The cause of death is the complications from pneumonia, FoxNews reports.
‘Full Metal Jacket’ lead actor died
In a statement posted on Twitter, Bill Rogin, the manager of the actor, said Ermey died due to complications from pneumonia at the age of 74.
Statement from R. Lee Ermey's long time manager, Bill Rogin:
It is with deep sadness that I regret to inform you all that R. Lee Ermey ("The Gunny") passed away this morning from complications of pneumonia. He will be greatly missed by all of us.
Semper Fi, Gunny. Godspeed. pic.twitter.com/vf4O78JKmb
— R. Lee Ermey (@RLeeErmey) April 15, 2018
Military career
R. Lee Ermey had a very successful military career, you can read about his achievements
- Ermey, 17, enlisted in US Marine Corps in 1961 and participated in Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California;
- As a part of his military career, he was in Marine Wing Support Group 17 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan;
- He served for 11 years, including 14 months in Vietnam, before he was discharged in 1972;
- Also, Ermey was a technical adviser in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” and had there a role of a helicopter pilot;
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Source: abcnews.com
Big break
In 1987, R. Lee Ermey was to become a technical adviser for Kubrick’s movie on Vietnam, ‘Full Metal Jacket’, but the director offered him one of the main roles, the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, after seeing Ermey’s demo tape.
The movie earned Ermey a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actor, and opened him an actor career: he was offered a role of Mayor Tilman, “Mississippi Burning,” Sergeant Major Bougus in ‘Space: Above and Beyond’ and a voice of Sarge in “Toy Story.”
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You can see him playing in ‘Full Metal Jacket’ below:
According to Kubrick, 50% of Ermey’s lines in the film was his own, “In the course of hiring the marine recruits, we interviewed hundreds of guys. We lined them all up and did an improvisation of the first meeting with the drill instructor. They didn’t know what he was going to say, and we could see how they reacted. Lee came up with, I don’t know, 150 pages of insults,” Kubrick stated.
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