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. He also hosted GunnyTime on the Outdoor Channel.

Early life

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, his father 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, his mother took him 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.

Military career

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 he 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 he was advanced to Staff Sergeant (E-6). He was medically retired in 1972 because of several injuries. On May 17, 2002, he 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 (located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately five miles (8.0 km) south of Beaufort). An episode of Mail Call was filmed at the latter of these two training bases.

Acting career

Early technical advice and first roles

After his discharge from the Marine Corps, Ermey attended the University of Manila in the Philippines, using his G.I. Bill benefits. While there, he 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, he 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.

Full Metal Jacket

Ermey had infrequent film roles until 1987, when he was cast as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. As with The Boys in Company C and Apocalypse Now, he was initially hired by the production only as a technical advisor. Ermey recorded several 30-minute sessions on videocassette with the first casting choice for Hartman, Tim Colceri, in which they hurled insults at a group of extras. Kubrick had intended these rehearsals as a venue for Colceri to learn how drill instructors could remove the civilian mindset from the personalities of new recruits. Ermey, realizing that Kubrick was watching the tapes he recorded with Colceri, treated the recordings as an audition for the role of Hartman. To this end, Ermey not only continued berating recruits long after Colceri's 30-minute practice session had ended, but had stagehands pelt him with tennis balls and oranges as he did it, showing a real drill instructor's level of concentration while at work. Kubrick grew fascinated with Ermey's performances, which sometimes ran to two hours—the maximum time that could be recorded on VHS cassettes. The director later said to Rolling Stone that Ermey's intense familiarity with the role had perfected his delivery and fluency of improvisation to a level he could not hope to discover in a professional actor, no matter how many takes they were given. Colceri was replaced by Ermey before filming. In consolation for his months of preparation for the role of Hartman, Colceri was given the smaller role of a helicopter door-gunner. Seeking authenticity for the war movie, Kubrick allowed Ermey to write, edit and improvise his own dialogue. His was the only performance in a Kubrick film that had a significant proportion of improvised dialogue, with Ermey writing more than 50 percent of his dialogue. Kubrick later praised Ermey as an excellent performer. Despite the technical demands of Ermey's extended dialogue scenes — his character has by far the most lines in the film — the actor sometimes satisfied Kubrick after only three takes, because he was prepared. This was extremely unusual on a Kubrick production, where the director would regularly demand 40 takes, and in some circumstances considerably more due to actors focusing more on remembering their lines than delivering believable emotions. Ermey's performance was extremely well-received and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor.

Later films

Ermey eventually appeared in about 60 films, often in roles of authority figures similar to his character in Full Metal Jacket. These include Mayor Tilman in Mississippi Burning (1988), Sergeant Major Bill Hafner in The Siege of Firebase Gloria (also a Vietnam film, 1989), Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives (1989), General Kramer in Toy Soldiers (1991), a police captain in Se7en (1995), the ghost of a drill instructor in The Frighteners (1996), Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine (1997), Frank Martin in the remake of Willard (2003), and Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). He also appeared in Sommersby, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, On Deadly Ground, Murder in the First, Leaving Las Vegas, Dead Man Walking, Switchback, Life, Saving Silverman, The Salton Sea, Man of the House, and The Watch. Ermey also lent his voice as plastic army men leader Sarge to Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Toy Story 3 (2010), as well as a sergeant in X-Men 3 (2006). His voice was also briefly heard through a voice disguise machine in Recess: School's Out (2001).

Television

Ermey hosted two programs on the History Channel. The first program, Mail Call (2002-2009), consisted of him answering viewers' questions about various military issues both modern and historic. Ermey frequently discussed weaponry, tactical matters, and military history. Mail Call's subject matter was dictated by viewer emails; one episode focused on an M1 Abrams tank, while others involved World War II secrets, and others focused on elements of medieval warfare. The set consisted of a military tent, other military gear and weapons, and a World War II jeep. According to a 2005 episode of Mail Call filmed at Whiteman Air Force Base, he was the 341st person to fly in the B-2 stealth bomber. Ermey hosted a second History Channel program entitled Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey (2009), which discussed the history of various weapons used by militaries of today. Ermey served as host of GunnyTime, a show that debuted on Outdoor Channel in 2015. Ermey guest-starred on a number of shows, usually appearing in a commanding military role. The shows included Kim Possible, The Simpsons, Roughnecks, Family Guy, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Rocket Power, The Angry Beavers, Fillmore!, Miami Vice, Human Target, All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series, Rough Riders, Cracker, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Invader Zim. In 1993, Ermey appeared as the father of Bruce Campbell's character in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. for two episodes (1 and 8) of season one. On December 14, 1994, Ermey played a sheriff in Tales from the Crypt, season six, episode nine, "Staired in Horror". In 1995, Ermey played Sergeant Major Frank Bougus, USMC in the pilot episode of Space: Above and Beyond. He also played the role of Reverend Patrick Findley, a minister, on The X-Files season 3, episode 11, "Revelations". Ermey also made guest appearances on the television drama House, playing the role of Dr. Gregory House's father, who was a decorated naval aviator while serving in the Marine Corps ("Daddy's Boy", "Birthmarks"), and the sitcom Scrubs, playing the Janitor's father. He also voiced Wildcat in several episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Ermey voiced Colonel Leslie "Hap" Hapablap in two episodes of The Simpsons ("Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and "Waiting for Duffman"). 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. Ermey was also featured each week on ESPN's College GameDay. His role was to insult the experts' incorrect picks from the previous week. In 2010, Ermey appeared in the Law & 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. In 1996, he was the player character's superior officer in Earthsiege 2. Ermey lent his voice to several video games, including Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (as General Barnaky) and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (as Wa-Wa). He also made a cameo in Real War: Air, Land, Sea, a real-time strategy video game based on the official Joint Chiefs of Staff training game. In 2014, he did voice-over work for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Several characters have made references to Ermey and the character of Hartman. In the game Fallout 3, a recruitable companion is named Sergeant RL-3, a modified military robot with a personality very similar to Ermey (the companion's name is a reference to Ermey's initials wherein the 3 is leetspeak for the letter E). 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 Half-Life: Opposing Force, the drill sergeant from the initial boot camp stage had dialogue and mannerisms very similar to Ermey's character in Full Metal Jacket.

Commercials

Ermey was an official spokesman for Black Book (National Auto Research), Glock firearms, TRU-SPEC apparel, Tupperware, Victory Motorcycles, Hoover, SOG Specialty Knives, WD-40, Young Marines, and appeared in commercials for Coors Light, Dick's Sporting Goods, GEICO, and pistachio nuts. In late 2010, Ermey starred in a GEICO commercial as a drill-instructor-turned-therapist who insults a client, in a parody of some of his iconic characters. He provided the introduction for the Professional Bull Riders. He can be seen giving a service announcement for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, demanding that viewers be quiet during the film. He was a board member of the National Rifle Association of America.

Personal life

Ermey married his wife, Nila, in 1975. They had four children and remained married until his death.

Business venture

Ermey was a co-founder of Bravery Brewing in Lancaster, California.

Military appearances

On May 17, 2002, Ermey received an honorary post-service promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) from the Commandant of the Marine Corps General James L. Jones in recognition of his continuing support to Americans in military service. 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. He 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.

Political views

Ermey described himself as an independent. In the 2008 presidential election, Ermey voted for Barack Obama, but subsequently criticized his economic policies, accusing him of attempting to "impose socialism" on the American people and "destroying the country." Ermey said in a 2015 interview that he supported Texas Senator Ted Cruz for president. He said, "You know what, I just watched Ted Cruz – I mean, what a tough act to follow. I'm not going to tell you who I'm going to vote for, but I'm going to let you guess [...] and the first two guesses don't count!" He endorsed presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016. Ermey was a supporter of the Second Amendment and a board member of the National Rifle Association.

Death

Ermey died at a hospital in Santa Monica, California, from complications related to pneumonia on the morning of April 15, 2018, at the age of 74. His funeral was held in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, January 18, 2019.

Awards and decorations

Ermey was retroactively awarded the Marine Corps Drill Instructor Ribbon after he retired from the military due to his prior service as a Marine Corps recruit training instructor. Ermey's military awards included:

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other media