- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRonald Lee Ermey
- Nickname
- The Gunny
- Height1.83 m
- A talented character actor known for his military roles, Ronald Lee Ermey was in the United States Marine Corps for 11 years. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant, and later was bestowed the honorary rank of Gunnery Sergeant by the Marine Corps, after he served 14 months in Vietnam and later did two tours in Okinawa, Japan. After injuries forced him to retire from the Corps, he moved to the Phillipines, enrolling in the University of Manila, where he studied Criminology and Drama. He appeared in several Filipino films before being cast as a helicopter pilot in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979). Due to his Vietnam experiences, Coppola also utilized him as a technical adviser. He got a featured role in Sidney J. Furie's Les boys de la compagnie C (1978), playing a drill instructor. Ermey worked with Furie again in Au coeur de l'enfer (1984).
However, his most famous (or infamous) role came as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. He did win the best supporting actor award from The Boston Society of Film Critics. Since then, he has appeared in numerous character roles in such films as Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Seven (1995) and La dernière marche (1995). However, Ermey prefers comedy to drama, and has a comedic role in Diablesse (2001).- IMDb mini biography by: Nick Johansen / honassen@yahoo.com
- SpousesMarianila (Nila) Ypon(1981 - April 15, 2018) (his death, 4 children)Dolores M Janshen(August 1, 1962 - March 28, 1969) (divorced, 2 children)
- ParentsJohn Edward ErmeyBetty Jane Ermey
- Known for playing military drill instructors
- Commanding and dynamic delivery
- Tough and often scary screen presence
- Was one of the few people ever allowed to improvise for notorious perfectionist Stanley Kubrick. A lot of his dialogue lines in Full Metal Jacket (1987) were improvised.
- When he was 17, he would always get in trouble with the police. During a court hearing, the judge gave him the choice of either facing jail or join the military. He chose the military.
- Was not intended to be in Full Metal Jacket (1987). He was hired as a technical advisor for the actor who was to play the drill instructor, but he did such a good job at it that Ermey himself was hired for the part.
- In 1987, he was involved in a jeep accident during the making of Full Metal Jacket (1987). At 1:00 am one morning, he skidded off the road, breaking all the ribs on his left side. He refused to pass out and kept flashing his car lights until a motorist stopped. In some scenes in the movie, he does not move his left arm at all.
- Despite antagonizing him for the entire film in Full Metal Jacket (1987) he in fact spoke very highly of Vincent D'Onofrio who played Private Pyle, offscreen and said he gave the best performance in the entire film.
- It's my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can.
- Even though I disagree with many of the changes, when I see the privates graduate at the end of the day, when they walk off that drill field at the end of the ceremony, they are still fine privates; outstanding, well motivated privates.
- I firmly believe that you live and learn, and if you don't learn from past mistakes, then you need to be drug out and shot.
- The best part about the movie, and everybody seems to rave about it, is the boot camp part.
- The bad news motivated the drill instructors that much more.
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