R. Lee Ermey

Ronald Lee Ermey (March 24, 1944 – April 15, 2018) was an American actor and voice actor. He was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant and Drill Instructor.
Ermey has often been typecast for the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, and plastic army men leader Sarge in the Toy Story films.
==Early life==
Ermey was born Ronald Lee Ermey on March 24, 1944 in Emporia, Kansas. His father was John Edward and his mother was Betty Ermey (née Pantley). He was of German, English, Scottish, Dutch, French, Swiss, and Welsh descent. Ermey had five brothers and grew up at a farm outisde Kansas City, Kansas.
In 1958, when he was 14 years old, Ermey moved to Zillah, Washington along with his family. When Ermey was 17 in 1961, he often got trouble with local authorities, and was arrested twice for criminal mischief. After his second arrest, a judge gave him a choice between being sent to jail or joining the military. As a result, Ermey chose the military.
==Military career==
===U.S. Marine Corps===
In 1961, at age 17, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps 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 in 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 the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James L. Jones.
Ermey continued to visit Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Beaufort, South Carolina to visit with and speak with recruits. Ermey filmed an episode of Mail Call at Parris Island.
==Acting career==
===Films===
===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.
==Death==
On the morning of April 15, 2018, Ermey passed away from complications related to pneumonia at a hospital in Santa Monica, California. He died at the age of 74.
==Filmography==
==External links==
*R. Lee Ermey on Wikipedia 
Category:1944 births
Category:2018 deaths
Category:American actors
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:Actors
Category:Males