11 Hollywood Stars Who Served in the Military

It’s not just casting calls that Hollywood stars respond to, but Uncle Sam’s too. 

Stars who have served in the military are just like the more than 17 million American veterans: At one point in their lives, they either were drafted or volunteered to serve their country. Some of these public figures have even taken the skills they’ve learned in training or combat to their careers as actors, singers and comedians. Chuck Norris was able to perform his own stunts in films because of his time in the military — and even help prepare other actors for action on film. Star Wars star Adam Driver saw the correlations between the two professions so strongly that he started a nonprofit that combined them. But even further than physical training, some actors have applied their emotional growth from their time in service to their time on screen. 

“The military and theater communities are actually very similar: You have a group of people trying to accomplish a mission greater than themselves,” Driver said during his TED Talk. “It’s not about you. You have a role, and you have to know the role in that team.”

From Norris and Driver to Bea Arthur and Morgan Freeman, here are 11 Hollywood stars who have served in the military.