Actors Who Portrayed Military Personnel: Fact or Fiction
This is a list of actors in movies that have played a military role. Real or not, they will be included. Generals, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Captains, Majors, Corporals, Colonels, Privates, Commanders, etc.
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- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Gary Alan Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, to Mylles S. (Alsip) and Robert L. Sinise, A.C.E., a film editor. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather), English, Scottish, Irish, French, German, and Swedish ancestry. His family moved to Highland Park, where he attended high school. He was something of a rebel, playing in bands but paying little attention to school.
Gary and some friends tried out for "West Side Story" as a lark, but Gary was hooked on acting for life by closing night. Gary credits his love for theatre to his drama teacher, Barbara Patterson. In 1974, Gary, Terry Kinney, and Jeff Perry founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Initially performing in a church basement, the company grew and gained stature in the Chicago area. In addition to acting in many plays, Gary also directed some of Steppenwolf's most notable productions, including Sam Shepard's "True West". The company made its off-Broadway debut with that production, starring Gary and John Malkovich, and its Broadway debut with "The Grapes of Wrath" at the Cort Theatre in 1990. Gary's Hollywood career also started in the director's chair with two episodes of the stylish TV series Crime Story (1986), followed in 1988 by the feature Miles from Home (1988) starring Richard Gere. Gary's first feature film as an actor was the World War II fable A Midnight Clear (1992) in 1992. That year also found Gary combining his acting and directing talents with the critically acclaimed Of Mice and Men (1992). His first real notice by the public came in 1994, however. He starred in the blockbuster miniseries The Stand (1994), rapidly followed by his bravura performance as "Lt. Dan" in Forrest Gump (1994). His portrayal of the disabled, emotionally tortured veteran earned Gary numerous awards and an Oscar nomination. Busy 1994 was followed by busy 1995, first reuniting with Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 (1995) and then starring in the HBO film Truman (1995) which earned him the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards and an Emmy nomination.
Gary is married to Moira Sinise, an actress and original member of the Steppenwolf company. They have three children, Sophie Sinise, McCanna Anthony Sinise and Ella Sinise.Lieutenant Dan
Forrest Gump (1994)- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior year. He left high school without graduating, but earned a diploma through a professional education course, and graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in film. For much of the mid-1990s, he lived in New York City as a struggling, unemployed actor.Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Patrick Joseph Wilson was born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, the son of Mary Kathryn (Burton), a voice teacher and professional singer, and John Franklin Wilson, a news anchor.
Wilson has a B.F.A. in Drama from Carnegie-Mellon University. His theater work has produced many nominations and awards. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for The Full Monty, a Drama League Award for "Fascinating Rhythm", a Drama Drama League Award for "Bright Lights, Big City", an Encores nomination for "Tenderloin". He had national tours in "Carousel" (Drama Logue Award winner and L.A. Ovation nomination) and "Miss Saigon". Regionally, he has appeared in "Sweet Bird of Youth" (La Jolla), "Cider House Rules" (Mark Taper Forum), "Romeo and Juliet: The Musical" (Ordway), "Lucky in the Rain" (Goodspeed), "Harmony" (La Jolla), and "The Full Monty" (Globe).
Patrick Wilson is married to actress Dagmara Dominczyk; the couple has two children.Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Luke George Evans was born in Pontypool, Wales, and grew up in Aberbargoed, in the south of Wales. He is the son of Yvonne (Lewis) and David Evans. He moved to Cardiff at the age 17. He then won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre, and graduated in 2000.
He starred in many of London's West End theatre productions. In 2009, he landed the role of Apollo in Clash of the Titans (2010) (2010). Then, he quickly landed roles in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010) (2010), Robin Hood (2010) (2010), Tamara Drewe (2010) (2010), Blitz (2011) (2010), The Three Musketeers (2011) (2011), Ashes (2011), Immortals (2011) (2011) and The Raven (2012) (2012). He's also scheduled to star in The Amateur American (2012), No One Lives (2012) (2012) and Only God Forgives (2013) (2013).
Luke Evans resides in Shoreditch, London.Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky
Midway (2019)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Nick Jonas is best known as one of the Jonas Brothers, a band formed with his brothers Kevin and Joe. He has appeared in films such as Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and Careful What You Wish For (2015). He has also appeared television series Last Man Standing (2011) and Hawaii Five-0 (2010). Jonas starred in Jonas (2009), a Disney Channel original series. In 2014, Jonas began work as Demi Lovato's musical and creative director.
Nick was born in Dallas, Texas, to Denise (née Miller), a teacher and singer, and Paul Kevin Jonas, a musician and former ordained minister. He has German, English, Scottish, Irish, Italian/Sicilian (from a great-grandfather), and French-Canadian ancestry.Aviation Machinist’s Mate Bruno Gaido
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Darren Criss was born on 5 February 1987 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Little White Lie (2009), Glee (2009) and A Very Potter Musical (2009). He has been married to Mia Swier since 16 February 2019. They have one child.Lieutenant Commander Eugene Lindsey
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Composer
Luke Kleintank mainly starred in 8 episodes of "Bones" as Finn Abernathy, starting in November 2011, alongside Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Over the course of a few years, has been in The Hot Dog in the Competition (10 November 2011), The Bump in the Road (9 April 2012), The Don't in the Do (16 April 2012), The Partners in the Divorce (24 September 2012), The Patriot in Purgatory (12 November 2012), The Friend in Need (18 February 2013), The Maiden in the Mushrooms (1 April 2013), and The Turn in the Urn (31 March 2014).Lieutenant Clarence Dickinson Jr.
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
After starring in the hugely successful blockbuster The Hunger Games (2012) (for which he received two awards), Alexander has gone on to work in films such as Lone Survivor (2013), The Final Girls (2015), and Bad Boys for Life (2020), and received critical acclaim for his performance as Bjorn Ironside in the global hit television series Vikings (2013).
Alexander Richard Ludwig was born in Vancouver, Canada, on May 7, 1992. He has three siblings: Nicholas, Natalie and Sophia, and a cat named Puss in Boots. His mother, Sharlene Martin, is a former actress and assists in managing his career. His father, Harald Ludwig, is a board member of Lions Gate Entertainment and president of Macluan Capital Corporation. As one of the stars of History Channel's top rated show "Vikings", Alexander's Bjorn Ironside is the eldest son to the king and the successor to the crown. Completing its third season, Vikings has been experiencing overwhelming success: "New York, NY - February 24, 2015 -The season three premiere of History's hit scripted series Vikings raided 4.6 million total viewers, 2.4 million Adults 25-54 and 2.3 million Adults 18-49 in Live +3 delivery, ranking it as the #1 show on cable in Live +3 in all key demos and total viewers on Thursday, February 19." Additionally, Alexander co-starred in Sony's dark comedy The Final Girls (2015) co-starring Malin Akerman, Nina Dobrev, Taissa Farmiga and Adam Devine. This film premiered at SXSW on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 10 pm and received rave reviews. Alexander just completed filming the independent picture "Go With Me", co-starring Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles and Ray Liotta. The producers of this film are anticipating a 2015 release date. Alexander is an ambassador to the Bvlgari Brand, as well as being an independent fashion consultant to the sport line RYU.
He is a passionate musician, an undeniable adrenaline junkie and a gifted spokesman. Those who work with him speak of his dedication to his craft, coupled with his humility and charm and his work on Vikings (2013) has made him one of the most promising and sought after stars of his generation. When he isn't acting, Alexander can be found writing for film and television as well as surfing, extreme skiing, skydiving, traveling the world, and working with a variety of philanthropic organizations.Lieutenant Roy Pearce
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Additional Crew
Brennan Brown was born on 23 November 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Focus (2015), State of Play (2009) and I Love You Phillip Morris (2009). He has been married to Jenna Stern since 3 January 1998. They have one child.Commander Joseph Rochefort
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Geoffrey Blake is an Emmy nominated, two-time SAG Award winning actor best known for his role as 'Wesley' (the abusive radical boyfriend) opposite Robin Wright's 'Jennie' in the iconic Academy Award Best Picture Forrest Gump (1994). In addition to Forrest Gump (1994), Blake has appeared alongside Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks in multiple films. Those performances are part of Blake's frequent collaborations with such Academy Award winning filmmakers as Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard (Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), Apollo 13 (1995), Edtv (1999), Frost Nixon) whose films alone have garnered over $2,000,000,000 in Box office. Blake's most critically acclaimed performance was that of the preppy pipe-smoking astrophysicist 'Fisher', the right hand man, in the Sci-Fi classic Contact opposite Academy Award winner Jodie Foster.
Blake has well over 100 credits to his name in both television and film. In the 1980's and early 1990's, he frequently collaborated with friend and colleague, Emilio Estevez. The two met on the generation defining film Young Guns (1988) where Blake portrayed 'McCloskey', the Young Gun snitch, opposite Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney. Blake would go on to make four more films with Estevez as both an actor and director (Men at Work, Rated X, The War at Home, Nightbreaker). He also worked with other luminary filmmakers such as Ridley & Tony Scott (The Man in the High Castle, Enemy of the State), Paul Mazursky (The Pickle), Frank Darabont (Mob City), Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog), Roland Joffe in Texas Rising (2015) and numerous others. In addition, he has appeared in a multitude of Emmy Award winning series, mini-series, and movies for television with prolific content providers such as Steven Bochco, David Milch, Jerry Bruckheimer, Shonda Rhimes, David Shore, Paul Attanosio, Don Bellisario, and Dick Wolf, repeatedly reaching out to Blake to be on their shows.
Simultaneously, Blake stars in two series as recurring regulars. In Agent X for TNT, Blake portrays 'Gray Lawson', the Machiavellian Director of the CIA, opposite Academy Award Nominee Sharon Stone and James Earl Jones. He also recurs in Ridley Scott/Scott Free's The Man in the High Castle, Amazon Prime's highest rated and most critically praised one-hour drama to date. Based on the Phillip P. Dicks Hugo award winning Dystopian novel, Blake portrays 'Doc Meyer' the leader of the American East Coast resistance to the Nazi occupiers and nemesis to Rufus Sewell's menacing Third Reich killer sociopath.
In 2014, Blake spent five months in Durango, Mexico filming History Channel's 10-hour mini-series event Texas Rising (2015) directed by two-time Academy Award Nominee Roland Joffe (Killing Fields, The Mission). Blake came to the production by way of his colleague Bill Paxton, whom he previously worked opposite in Apollo 13 and Mighty Joe Young. Blake portrays 'Col. George Hockley'; confidant, agitate, right hand man and second in command to Paxton's 'General Sam Houston'. Blake relished at the opportunity of working with Paxton again as well with fellow actors Ray Liotta, Olivier Martinez, Brendon Fraser, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and numerous others.
Raised in Northern California, Blake sparked his love for acting and writing as a member of The American Conservatory Theatre at the ripe old age of 16. He started his career under the tutelage of John Housman at the USC School of Theatre. He went on to study with legendary acting teacher Peggy Feury at the Loft Studio, where among his classmates were his generation's finest actors (Sean Penn, Forrest Whitaker, Meg Ryan, Nicolas Cage, Michelle Pfeifer to name just a few). Later he studied with, often mentioned in Academy Award winner's speeches, Larry Moss.
Not only is Blake an award winning actor, he is also a highly respected screenplay writer alongside his scribe partner and wife, Marcia Blake. Together, they have written projects for A-Level film talent such as Robert Towne (Chinatown), Tom Cruise's production companies, Brad Pitt's Plan B, Robert Deniro's Tribeca, major studios, and HBO.
Together with Marcia, Blake has the great fortune of raising two sons. His family inspires and supports him in his creative endeavors where he strives and blessed to stay working at the top tiers of the Entertainment Industry.Commander John Ford
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Director
James Carpinello was born on 13 August 1975 in Albany, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Punisher (2004), Midway (2019) and The Great Raid (2005). He has been married to Amy Acker since 25 April 2003. They have two children.Lieutenant Commander William Brockman
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Eric Davis is an actor, director and writer, known for Music (2021, film by Sia), How To Get Away With Murder (2014), Criminal Minds (2019) and Baby Money (2021). He is originally from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and is the oldest of three. Eric attended Penn State University where he earned a degree in Landscape Architecture.Captain Miles Browning
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland, Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, where his mother was from. After receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College, he had a brief stint in New York theater. He was soon cast as Woody on TV series Cheers (1982), which wound up being one of the most-popular TV shows ever and also earned Harrelson an Emmy for his performance in 1989.
While he dabbled in film during his time on Cheers (1982), that area of his career didn't fully take off until towards the end of the show's run. In 1991, Doc Hollywood (1991) gave him his first widely-seen movie role, and he followed that up with White Men Can't Jump (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). More recently, Harrelson was seen in No Country for Old Men (2007), Zombieland (2009), 2012 (2009), and Friends with Benefits (2011), along with the acclaimed HBO movie Game Change (2012).
In 2011, Harrelson snagged the coveted role of fan-favorite drunk Haymitch Abernathy in the big-screen adaptation of The Hunger Games (2012), which ended up being one of the highest-grossing movies ever at the domestic box office. Harrelson is set to reprise that role for the sequels, which are scheduled for release in November 2013, 2014 and 2015. Harrelson has received two Academy Award nominations, first for his role as controversial Hustler founder Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and then for a role in The Messenger (2009). He also received Golden Globe nominations for both of these parts. In 2016, he had a stand-out role as a wise teacher in the teen drama The Edge of Seventeen (2016).
Harrelson was briefly married to Nancy Simon in the 80s, and later married his former assistant, Laura Louie, with whom he has three daughters.Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Writer
- Director
David Hewlett is an actor and life-long learning advocate with a passion for assistive technologies. Inspired by his childhood fear and fascination with Doctor Who, he wanted to become a genius Time Lord...reality led him to acting. David is the husband of the brilliant and beautiful, award winning, Producer, Jane Loughman. David created TechBandits.org, a curiosity driven Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Math club for kids of all ages that promotes life-long learning via YouTube and Twitch, as well as in-person events at local schools and community centers. His enthusiasm for assistive tech led him to partner with gamer, influencer and raconteur Lance Carr and Google on GameFace, an AI-powered head tracking mouse released at GoogleIO 2023. David also works with the University of Toronto on his educational Escape Room design learning initiative. Beyond his creative endeavors, David actively speaks at conferences and podcasts worldwide. His goal is to inspire the next generation of brilliant minds to "be brave, be kind, be curious".Admiral Husband Kimmel
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Sound Department
- Writer
Mark knew he wanted to be an actor at age nine; he took his career and studies to Europe to fulfill his dream. Once there, he was asked by five major acting schools to join them. He chose the Drama Centre London, where he studied for five years. Mark then beat out 2,000 others for an important position in the Theatre Communications Group National Finals. This led to a year's tour of the United States in the lead role in "Richard II." This was the beginning of his U.S. career.Admiral Ernest King
Midway (2019)- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Jake Manley was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for The Order (2019), Infamous (2020) and Midway (2019). He has been married to Jocelyn Hudon since 31 October 2021.Ensign Willie West
Midway (2019)- Brandon Sklenar was born and raised in northern New Jersey. His father a carpenter and his mother a hair dresser. With an intense passion for both film and music, at a young age he decided to pursue a career as an actor and filmmaker.
In 2018 Brandon worked with revered international filmmaker Amir Naderi (99 Homes), on his next directorial effort, Magic Lantern. He filmed a supporting role in the highly acclaimed Dick Cheney biopic VICE, with Academy Award Winners Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell and writer/director Adam McKay. Brandon also starred opposite Matt Smith (The Crown) as real life artist Edward Mapplethorpe, in the film Mapplethorpe, about the life and death of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2019 Brandon filmed Lead roles in three feature films. He starred as Texas moonshiner, Deke Jones in the dark comedy, Jonesin'. He starred opposite Rosie Day (Outlander) as a concert violinist in Jaclyn Bethany's relationship drama, Indigo Valley. He played West Virginia oil man, Junior Lawford, in the western, London Calling, opposite Nick Braun (Succession) and Ron Perlman. As well as a supporting role portraying real life Torpedo Bomber and World War 2 hero, George Gay, in Roland Emmerich's upcoming World War 2 epic Midway.Ensign George Gay
Midway (2019) - Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Dennis William Quaid was born on April 9, 1954 in Houston, Texas to Juanita Bonniedale "Nita" Quaid (née Jordan), a real estate agent & William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. He grew up in the Houston suburban city of Bellaire. He was raised a Baptist, and studied drama, Mandarin Chinese, and dance while a student at Bellaire High School. He continued study at the University of Houston, but dropped out before completing his degree. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue a film career where his brother, Randy Quaid, had already began to build a successful career. However, Dennis initially had trouble finding film roles, but began to gain notice when he appeared in Breaking Away (1979) and earned strong reviews for his role in The Right Stuff (1983). Aside from acting, Quaid is also a musician, and plays with his band, "The Sharks". He holds a flying license and is a five handicap golfer.Vice Admiral William Halsey
Midway (2019)