Stars in Khaki: Movie Actors in the Army and the Air Services
This gallery of Hollywoodites in the army and the "air services" arrives in the star-spangled wake of Wise and Wilderson's surveys of actors in the "sea services" (Stars in Blue, 1997) and the marines (Stars in the Corps, 1999). Again, discouraging words are seldom heard, but since there are sources aplenty of salacious Hollywood tattle, this trove of inspirational tales starring Tinseltowners is rather welcome. It is nice to see that Sabu, filmdom'sElephant Boy, ranks with Tony Bennett, Clark Gable, and Jimmy Stewart among the "Soldiers and Airmen in Combat" of part one, as opposed to the obviously less red-blooded "Staff Personnel, Instructors, and Entertainers" in part two--but hey, they also serve who only dance and sing. It is noteworthy that the noncombatant section includes such he-dudes as Charlton Heston, Clint Eastwood, and Burt Lancaster, as well as singin' cowboy Gene Autry and Sammy Davis Jr., who suffered extreme harassment in the army's first integrated unit.Mike TribbyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved