STAR WARRIORS
Many of the world's most recognizable names and faces answered the call to serve during the World Wars. Some were servicemen before they were celebrities, but a few did put their lucrative careers on hold to moonlight as soldiers and underground resistance fighters.
Ronald
Colman
 |
| Ronald Colman |
One of the few stars to successfully transition from
the silent
movie era to sound, Colman was among the
first members of the Territorial Army
fighting in
World War I. He was seriously wounded in the
Battle of Messines, which
gave him a limp that he
would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his
acting
career.
 |
| Sir Alec Guinness |
Sir Alec Guinness
A trained thespian, Guinness put his theatre career on hold in
1939 to join the Royal Navy. Guinness was piloting infantry landing craft in the Mediterranean – a sound basis for
training ace pilot Luke Skywalker and for playing the martinet Colonel
Nicholson in the unforgettable Bridge on the River Kwai.
 |
| Mel Brooks |
Mel Brooks
Brooks is known as the writer-director behind the comedies Young
Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. But before that, he served in 1104th
Engineer Combat Battalion, a unit that braved sniper fire to clear blocked
roads and deactivate landmines in World War II.
 |
| Jimmy Stewart |
Jimmy
Stewart
Jimmy Stewart was a bona fide movie star before World War II. In
early 1941, Stewart became one of the first Hollywood stars to enter the armed
forces when he joined the Army Air Corps and eventually became a squadron
commander in the 445th Bombardment Group in England.
 |
| Humphrey Bogart |
Humphrey
Bogart
AFI’s greatest movie star of all time was a wild teenager who
joined the US Navy, excited to be a part of World War I. According to some
accounts, his iconic scar and lisp were the result of shrapnel when his ship
was shelled.
 |
| Chuck Norris |
Chuck
Norris
He joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman in 1958
and was sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea. It was there that Norris acquired
the nickname Chuck and began his training in Tang Soo Do (Tangsudo), an
interest that led to black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk
Do (Universal Way) form. When he returned to the United States, he continued to
serve as an AP at March Air Force Base in California.
Source: TImes of India
