We love actors who have served and these are more to add to the already impressive list of actors who were in the Marine Corps. One of the actors worked on Broadway, another in a favorite family TV series, a third is still acting in a popular TV show and the remaining two will be a surprise. Pop culture references galore are in the next list of Marines who act.
Enjoy seeing what the Corps has to offer in way of thespians
1. Ray Heatherton
Heatherton began his career on Broadway in a revue called The Garrick Gaieties on June 4, 1930. He also attended Columbia University and attracted the attention of a top radio bandleader. Paul Whiteman, the bandleader-songwriter hired Heatherton for a CBS radio program named The Old Gold Hour. He sang on the radio show and performed in the Broadway musical Midnight Frolics at the same time. Heatherton was a busy man. He continued to sing on Broadway and appeared on the radio station W2XBS, what is now WNBC as a singer. When World War II broke out he joined the Marine Corps and earned the rank of Captain.
Heatherton served at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Guam and Okinawa in the Special Servies of the 9th Marine Aircraft Wing. He returned to the States post his service and found work in daily variety radio programs. One of his programs, The Merry Mailman, in the early 1950s, had him doing comedy routines with a sidekick and his segments being connected with cartoons such as Terrytoons and Crusader Rabbitt. It was geared toward kids and made a long run in TV. He continued his work on The Merry Mailman through the 60s, 70s and 80s. His daughter Joey was a big hit on the USO tours in Vietnam as well. He retired from show business in the mid-1980s leaving a legacy of singing, radio/TV and mostly children’s programming.
2. Brian Kelly
Kelly served in the Marine Corps right out of high school during the Korean War. He came home, attended the University of Notre Dame, graduated and then went to the University of Michigan Law School. He left law school and became an actor instead. Kelly got his break in shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies and The Rifleman. He got his real big break in Flipper, playing Porter Ricks, the Chief Warden of Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in the TV series.
The series was a family favorite and has spawned many relaunches and movies. Kelly then went on to star in movies such as Around the World Under the Sea and The Love Machine before an untimely motorcycle accident ended his acting career. He used his settlement to go into building homes and producing feature films such as Blade Runner. That’s right, a Marine helped bring Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to the screen with Harrison Ford and it was directed by Ridley Scott.
3. David Eigneberg
Eigenberg began his Marine Corps service in 1982. He joined the Reserves and served for three years attaining the rank of Lance Corporal. He got his first big break in acting playing a recurring role in Homicide: Life on the Street. He has appeared in feature films such as The Mothman Prophecies, Garfield: The Movie, and Sex and the City.
His TV work includes Soldier of Fortune, Inc, Sex and the City, CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and ER. He is a main cast member, Christopher Hermann, on Chicago Fire since 2012 and has appeared in the Chicago universe in Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. Eigenberg is a familiar face on TV and in the movies. He credits his Marine Corps experience for much of his success.
4. Jack Ging
Ging served in the Marine for four years in the early 1950s and earned an honorable discharge. He then played football at the University of Oklahoma before trying his hand at acting. He broke into the business in such films as Sniper’s Ridge and Where the Red Fern Grows. He worked in westerns and a thriller with another famous veteran, Clint Eastwood, in Hang ‘Em High, Play Misty for Me and High Plains Drifter.
Ging appeared on TV in The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke and Mannix through the 60s and 70s. In the 1980s he made notable appearances in Riptide and as a villain in The A-Team. Ging had a memorable career with top-level stars such as Raymond Burr, James Arness, George Peppard, Lee Majors, Glenn Ford and many more.
5. Sam J. Jones
Jones is most known for his portrayal of Flash Gordon in the film of the same name from 1980. It is a camp science fiction movie that has become a cult classic which led to him reappearing as the character and himself in Ted and Ted 2 with Mark Wahlberg. Jones played football throughout his youth and into his 20s, including in the Marine Corps. He served for two years in the Corps and earned the rank of Private First Class. On to acting and his first roles were in 10, then Flash Gordon and then television.
He appeared in such series as Code Red, The A-Team, Hunter and Riptide. Jones did more films, nothing of a high blockbuster scale and spent a lot of time on TV. He showed up on popular 90s shows such as Baywatch, Diagnosis Murder and Walker: Texas Ranger. His career continues in indie films and the occasional documentary.
6. Pat Paulsen
Paulsen spent a career doing comedy, much with the Smothers Brothers or his satirical runs for President from 1968 to 1996. He joined the Marines during World War II, yet saw no action. He was sent overseas to guard captured Japanese soldiers and then returned to the States post his service. Paulsen did a variety of jobs before attending San Francisco City College on his GI Bill. He established himself as a folk singer and did satire comedy. He initialized a faux news editorialist on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour almost a decade before Saturday Night Live did the same.
Post his time on the show, Paulsen continued working in nightclubs, theaters and conventions. In his satirical political campaigns, he came in second to President Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic primary in 1996. He came in second to President George H.W. Bush in the 1992 North Dakota Republican primary as well. A notable comedian and personality who made a significant impact in the TV variety show time in entertainment history.