Is the drill sergeant/therapist in this GEICO commercial the same guy who appeared in Full Metal Jacket? I never saw the movie, only a clip from it, but this sure looks like him. Hilarious ad, incidentally.
Update: "No, Einstein, that is not a tank."
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Yes, it's him. He's so good in this one - not good enough to make me buy the insurance (too many horror stories from other Navy families in the past), but still...
ReplyDeleteFound this, haven't checked out all the bits...http://www.rleeermey.com/about.php
He's done a number of movies. He also hosted a show called "Mail Call" where he does field evaluations on weapons systems, past and present, and blows stuff up. He loves questions from readers like:
ReplyDelete"Will this new system rally take out a multi-story office building with one shot?"
"I don't know, let's go get one and find out!"
He has a large network of private collectors and the military is VERY SUPPORTIVE so he has no problem testing just about anything.:)
Yes, that is R. Lee Ermey, 'The Gunny.'
ReplyDeleteGunny Ermey, that's him. Mail call is a great show. He was an actual Marine Drill Instructor and was a technical advisor on Full Metal Jacket. The director liked him alot better than the actor and a second career was born!
ReplyDeleteThat's Staff Sergeant (honorary Gunnery Sergeant) R. Lee Ermey, USMC-Ret.
ReplyDeleteYes, he was in Full Metal Jacket and several other movies.
For several years he hosted Mail Call on the History Channel - a show on which he would investigate questions about military matters submitted by viewers. The subjects ranged from what it's like to fly in an F-16 to how the Roman ballista worked, with plenty of demonstrations of weapons and other military tech.
The show went off the air in 2009.
In 2009-2010, Ermey hosted another show called Lock 'n Load, in which each episode is a historical retrospective on some category of military hardware: the tank, the machine gun, siege/demolition equipment.
The great thing about this show is high-speed camera footage of, for instance, bullets in flight - one can see the projectile spinning. Or bullets hitting targets.r
I recognized him right away (you can't mistake that voice, even though he looks so much older now). And I laugh every time I see that commercial.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the Gunney! Did a double take the first time it came on. Just knew it wasn't going to go well for the guy on the coach. Love when he throws the tissue box at the whimpy patient!
ReplyDeleteDeborah Leigh
Thanks, everybody (and welcome to new commenter, Rich Rostrum).
ReplyDeleteFrom IMDB:
ReplyDeleteFormer US Marine Corps Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey was not originally hired to play Gunnery Sgt. Hartman but as a consultant for the Marine Corps boot camp portion of the film. He performed a demonstration on videotape in which he yelled obscene insults and abuse for 15 minutes without stopping, repeating himself or even flinching - despite being continuously pelted with tennis balls and oranges. Stanley Kubrick was so impressed that he cast Ermey as Hartman.
One of my all time favourite movies.