What do the following celebrities have in common: Jack Benny, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, Gene Kelly, and Bill Cosby? Answer: they are all US Navy Veterans, many seeing combat in World Wars I and II. The lives of movie stars are often more closely followed than those of political leaders, sports figures, or sometimes one's own relatives, but even the most avid film buffs might be surprised to learn of their wartime exploits. Some stars' contributions were confined to extensions of their show-business careers, but others rendered heroic combat service, and still others laboured unglamorously in the mundane tasks without which no war can be won.
In this book, filled with fascinating and revealing profiles of more than fifty celebrities, many readers will discover for the first time the contributions and sacrifices actors have made in the US Navy and Coast Guard from World War I to Vietnam. Find out how John Howard won a Navy Cross, how Humphrey Bogart dropped a fleeing prisoner with his .45, how Henry Fonda won a Bronze Star for his actions during Pacific naval encounters, how Navy Hellcat ace Wayne Morris downed seven Japanese planes and how Hedy Lamarr patented World War II communications anti-jamming technology still in use today.
A virtual Who's Who, this entertaining yet historically accurate and complete account brings to life these and dozens of other stars' naval and coast guard service backgrounds and film careers, drawn from interviews, diaries, letters, and official military and film industry archives.
Author James Wise, a retired captain in the US Navy who served as a naval aviator and intelligence officer, is the coauthor of Shooting the War: The Memoir and Photographs of a U-Boat Officer in World War II and author of Sole Survivors of the Sea.
- ISBN10 1591149444
- ISBN13 9781591149446
- Publish Date 1 October 2007 (first published 9 September 1997)
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 22 December 2016
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Naval Institute Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 336
- Language English