10 Hollywood Stars Who Served in the Military Before Their Film Careers

Hollywood loves a uniform on screen. Behind the camera, a surprising number of well known actors wore a real one first, often as teenagers or young adults with no acting plans at all.

Their stories differ a lot. Some were drafted, some enlisted early, and a few went on to serve long after their careers began. Here are ten who put on a uniform before the movies came calling.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman joined the United States Air Force in the mid 1950s. He had dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, but he ended up working as a radar technician instead. He served for about four years before leaving in 1959.

Afterward he moved to Los Angeles and began picking up stage and television work. Decades later he won an Academy Award for Million Dollar Baby. He has often spoken about how the Air Force gave him early time to think about what he really wanted to do.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood was drafted into the Army in 1951, during the Korean War. He was stationed at Fort Ord in California, where he worked as a swimming instructor. It was a quiet assignment compared with what many of his peers faced.

Even so, he had a close call. A Navy plane he was riding in as a passenger ran low on fuel and went down in the Pacific near Point Reyes, and he swam several miles to shore. He later broke into films through Universal, then became a star in Westerns and an Oscar winning director.

Paul Newman

Paul Newman enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He served as a radioman and rear gunner on torpedo bombers in the Pacific. He had wanted to be a pilot, but color blindness kept him out of that role.

After the war he finished college and studied drama at the Yale School of Drama. His breakthrough came on Broadway and then in film in the 1950s. He later became one of Hollywood’s most durable leading men.

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier grew up in the Bahamas and moved to the United States as a teenager. In 1943 he joined the Army, reportedly claiming to be older than he was. He was assigned to a veterans hospital on Long Island, where he worked with patients.

After his discharge he returned to New York and found his way into the American Negro Theatre. In 1964 he became the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. His military years came well before any of that.

Bea Arthur

Long before The Golden Girls, Bea Arthur joined the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in 1943. She worked as a typist and a truck driver during her service. She left the Marines in 1945 with the rank of staff sergeant.

She went on to study acting in New York and built a career on stage. Her television fame came later with Maude and then The Golden Girls. Her time in the Marines tends to surprise people who know her only from sitcoms.

Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris joined the Air Force in 1958 and served as a military policeman in South Korea. While stationed there, he began studying Tang Soo Do, the martial art that shaped the rest of his life. His nickname, Chuck, reportedly came from his time in service.

After he returned to the United States, he became a champion competitor and opened karate schools. Bruce Lee cast him in Way of the Dragon in 1972, which launched his screen career. Television’s Walker, Texas Ranger came decades later.

Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman enlisted in the Marine Corps as a teenager, reportedly by claiming to be older than he was. He served for several years in the late 1940s and early 1950s, working as a radio operator. His postings included China, Hawaii and Japan.

He took up acting later, training at the Pasadena Playhouse. He won an Academy Award for The French Connection in 1971 and became one of the most respected actors of his generation. Hackman died in 2025.

Adam Driver

Adam Driver is one of the more recent names on this list. He joined the Marine Corps after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and served as a mortarman with the First Marine Division. A mountain biking injury led to a medical discharge before he could deploy.

He then enrolled at Juilliard and moved into television with Girls, followed by major film roles including Star Wars. He also founded Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that brings theater to military communities. His path from the Marines to Hollywood is among the most direct examples in this generation.

Rob Riggle

Rob Riggle spent more than two decades in the Marine Corps, mostly in the Reserves, and retired in 2013 as a lieutenant colonel. His service included deployments to places such as Kosovo and Afghanistan. He began his military career before his comedy career took off.

He later joined The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, then moved into films like The Hangover and 21 Jump Street. Few comedic actors can match his military record. He has often supported veterans’ causes alongside his entertainment work.

Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War II and served in the Pacific. He was wounded during the Battle of Saipan in 1944 and received the Purple Heart. He spent a long time recovering in a hospital afterward.

Back home, he drifted through odd jobs before an acting opportunity came along. He built a reputation as a tough screen presence and won an Academy Award for Cat Ballou in 1965. When he died in 1987, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.