From Elvis Presley to Bea Arthur, these talented musicians and actors put down their guitars and microphones and picked up a gun to serve their country. Some of them served honorably, others spent a little time in Army prison.
1
Pat Sajak. This Wheel of Fortune host joined the Army in 1968 when he was sent to Vietnam to be a disc jockey for the Armed Forced Radio.
2
Elvis Presley. As Elvis Presley was becoming the most successful rock and roll artist in the world, he was inducted into the US Army in 1958. He was stationed in Friedberg, Germany, where he was introduced to a lovely lady called Priscilla. He gave away his Army pay to charity and donated television sets to his base before being honorably discharged.
3
Tom Selleck. Before Tom Selleck served the public in Magnum P.I, he served the Californian Army National Guard from 1967-1973. He would act in between guard duty to earn a little extra cash.
4
Morgan Freeman. After graduating from high school, Morgan enlisted in the US Armed Forces. He worked as a tracking radio repairman and successfully rose to the rank Airman 1st Class.
5
Chuck Norris (This is no surprise). Chuck Norris decided to join the US Air force as an Air policeman.When he was stationed in Osan Air base in Korea he learned Tang Soo Do which ignited his interest in martial arts. At his stay at the base he garnered the nickname Chuck (his real name is Carlos) from his army mates and the name and martial arts stuck.
6
Bea Arthur. No really…Bea Arthur. This golden girl served in the marine corps in WWII as a truck driver. We all knew she was the staunchest out of all the girls.
7
Richard Pryor. Richard Pryor served the US Army from 1958-1960. However, most of that time was spent in army prison. Richard and a couple of his army pals beat and stabbed a white solider who laughed at the racial undertones whilst watching the movie Imitation of Life. Well, that was unexpected.
8
Hugh Hefner. Hugh Hefner served in the US Army from 1944-1946. He wrote for the military newspaper. We wonder if his girlfriend’s grandfathers served with him?
9
Jimi Hendrix. After being caught for stealing cars, the police gave Jimi an option of going to jail or going into the army. Shortly after that Jimi Hendrix was training to be a paratrooper. With a year under his belt he was honorarily discharged from the Army as his platoon sergeant thought the Army would be better off without him.
10
Mr T. After being expelled from college, Lawrence enlisted in the US Army and served in the Military Police Corps. He achieved the honorary award of “top trainee of the cycle” out of six thousand troops. He later became squad leader where he would constantly call them fools and pity them.
11
James Stewart. After being rejected from the Army because he was underweight, James Stewart bulked up enough to successfully enlist. He was the first American actor to serve in WWII.
12
Charlton Heston. Before he parted the seas and damned the apes to hell, Charlston Heston took his NRA skills right into WWII. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant which would later give him Q clearance to narrate highly secretive military films.
13
Mel Brooks. Mel Brooks was studying psychology at college when he was drafted into WWII. He served in 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion where he defused land mines. Nothing funny about that.
14
Adam Driver. Adam Driver is known for starring in the hit TV show Girls but little do people know that after 9/11 he joined the US Marine Corps. He served for two and half years but before he was deployed to Iraq he suffered a mountain biking injury that got him medically discharged.
15
Gene Hackman. Gene Hackman joined the US Marine Corp when he was just 16-years-old. He served for four and half years as a radio operator. Hackman served in both Hawaii and Japan.
