R. LEE ERMEY

(24 March 1944 - 15 April 2018)

The American actor Ronald Lee Ermey, who has died from pneumonia at the age of 74, was a former military man whose film career matched his own life. A former member of the US Marine Corps who served in Vietnam and Japan, he retired from the Corps and studied criminology and drama. His first US film was The Boys in Company C (1978) before Coppola used him as helicopter pilot in Apocalypse Now. He was outstanding as the Sergeant in Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and continued playing military roles and heavies in Mississippi Burning, Fletch Lives, Deathstone, Toy Soldiers, Hexed, Sommersby, Body Snatchers and other films and TV series. He was in On Deadly Ground, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Murder in the First, Leaving Las Vegas, Dead Man Walking, Taking Sides, Willard, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Watch. He also did voice work on Toy Story (as Sarge) and its sequels, Starship Troopers, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Reef, and the Family Guy and The Simpsons TV series.

MICHAEL DARVELL