On television, Ermey hosted two programs on theHistory Channel:Mail Call, in which he answered viewers' questions about various military issues both modern and historic; andLock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey, which concerned the development of different types of weapons. He also hostedGunnyTime on theOutdoor Channel.
Ermey was born inEmporia, Kansas, on March 24, 1944, to John Edward (1924–2016) and Betty (née Pantle) Ermey (1926–2004).[3][4] A few years after his birth, his father moved the family (including Ermey and his five brothers) to a small farm outsideKansas City, Kansas.[5] Then, in 1958, when Ermey was 14, his father moved the family to a rural home betweenZillah, Washington, andGranger, Washington.[5][6]
As a teenager, Ermey was an admitted "troublemaker and a bit of a hell-raiser", and frequently got into trouble.[7] In 1961, when Ermey was 17, his mother took him to a judge in an attempt to correct his behavior.[8] The judge gave the young Ermey a choice betweenmilitary service or jail; Ermey chose military service.[5]
Ermey enlisted in theUnited States Marine Corps in 1961 at age 17 and went through recruit training atMarine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego inSan Diego, California.[5] He served in the aviation support field for a few years before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he was assigned from 1965 to 1967.[9]
After his discharge from the Marine Corps, Ermey attended theUniversity of Manila in the Philippines, using hisG.I. Bill benefits.[12] While there, he was cast in his first film role, playing a Marine drill instructor inThe Boys in Company C (1978). Then, while serving as atechnical advisor to directorFrancis Ford Coppola, he was also cast as a First Air Cavalry helicopter pilot in one scene inApocalypse Now (1979).[13] He also appeared as a Gunnery Sergeant in 1984'sPurple Hearts: shot, like all his early films, in the Philippines.[13]
Ermey had infrequent film roles until 1987, when he was cast as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick'sFull Metal Jacket.[13] As withThe Boys in Company C andApocalypse Now, he was initially hired by the production only as a technical advisor.[13][14]
Ermey recorded several 30-minute sessions onvideocassette with the first casting choice for Hartman,Tim Colceri, in which they hurled insults at a group of extras. Kubrick had intended these rehearsals as a venue for Colceri to learn how drill instructors could remove the civilian mindset from the personalities of new recruits. Ermey, realizing that Kubrick was watching the tapes he recorded with Colceri, treated the recordings as an audition for the role of Hartman. To this end, Ermey not only continued berating recruits long after Colceri's 30-minute practice session had ended, but had stagehands pelt him with tennis balls and oranges as he did it, showing a real drill instructor's level of concentration while at work.[14]
Kubrick grew fascinated with Ermey's performances, which sometimes ran to two hours—the maximum time that could be recorded on VHS cassettes. The director later said toRolling Stone that Ermey's intense familiarity with the role had perfected his delivery and fluency of improvisation to a level he could not hope to discover in a professional actor, no matter how many takes they were given. Colceri was replaced by Ermey before filming. In consolation for his months of preparation for the role of Hartman, Colceri was given the smaller role of a helicopter door-gunner.[15][13]
Seeking authenticity for the war movie, Kubrick allowed Ermey to write, edit and improvise his own dialogue. His was the only performance in a Kubrick film that had a significant proportion of improvised dialogue, with Ermey writing more than 50 percent of his dialogue.[16] Kubrick later praised Ermey as an excellent performer. Despite the technical demands of Ermey's extended dialogue scenes — his character has by far the most lines in the film — the actor sometimes satisfied Kubrick after only three takes, because he was prepared. This was extremely unusual on a Kubrick production, where the director would regularly demand 40 takes, and in some circumstances considerably more due to actors focusing more on remembering their lines than delivering believable emotions.[17] Ermey's performance was extremely well-received and he was nominated for aGolden Globe Award asBest Supporting Actor.
Ermey hosted two programs on theHistory Channel. The first program,Mail Call (2002–2009), consisted of him answering viewers' questions about various military issues both modern and historic. Ermey frequently discussed weaponry, tactical matters, and military history.Mail Call's subject matter was dictated by viewer emails; one episode focused on anM1 Abrams tank, while others involvedWorld War II secrets, and others focused on elements ofmedieval warfare. The set consisted of a military tent, other military gear and weapons, and a World War IIjeep. According to a 2005 episode ofMail Call filmed atWhiteman Air Force Base, he was the 341st person to fly in theB-2 stealth bomber.
Ermey hosted a second History Channel program entitledLock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey (2009), which discussed the history of various weapons used by militaries of today.[18]
Ermey served as host ofGunnyTime, a show that debuted onOutdoor Channel in 2015.[19]
Ermey voiced Colonel Leslie "Hap" Hapablap in two episodes ofThe Simpsons ("Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and "Waiting for Duffman"). In the episode ofSpongeBob SquarePants "Inmates of Summer", he voiced an irate warden of a maximum-security island prison who demoralized the inmates whenever he could. In the episode ofThe Angry Beavers "Fancy Prance", he voiced theLipizzaner stallions' instructor, Drill Sergeant Goonther.
Ermey was also featured each week onESPN'sCollege GameDay. His role was to insult the experts' incorrect picks from the previous week. In 2010, Ermey appeared in theLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Trophy" as a paroled sex offender. In 2011, Ermey starred as a drill instructor on theX-Play special onBulletstorm. In theFamily Guy episode "Grumpy Old Man", Ermey guest-starred, again as a drill instructor.[23]
In 1993, Ermey played Lyle The Handyman in thefull motion video game Mega-CD/Sega CD gameDouble Switch. In 1996, he was the player character's superior officer inEarthsiege 2.
Several characters have made references to Ermey and the character of Hartman. In the gameFallout 3, a recruitable companion is named Sergeant RL-3, a modified military robot with a personality very similar to Ermey (the companion's name is a reference to Ermey's initials wherein the 3 isleetspeak for the letter E). In theWorld of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion there is a character named "Lieutenant Emry" that speaks some of Ermey's signature lines fromFull Metal Jacket. InHalf-Life: Opposing Force, the drill sergeant from the initial boot camp stage had dialogue and mannerisms very similar to Ermey's character inFull Metal Jacket.
On May 17, 2002, Ermey received an honorary post-service promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) from the Commandant of the Marine CorpsGeneralJames L. Jones in recognition of his continuing support to Americans in military service.[11]
He conducted morale tours, visiting United States troops in locations such asAl Kut, Iraq, andBagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in which he filmed parts for his television showMail Call. While at Bagram Airfield, he held aUSO-type show in which he portrayed GySgt Hartman and conducted a comedy routine. He also did the same atDoha, Qatar andCamp Doha, Kuwait City, Kuwait, in 2003.
Ermey described himself as anindependent. In the2008 presidential election, Ermey voted forBarack Obama, but subsequently criticized his economic policies, accusing him of attempting to "impose socialism" on the American people and "destroying the country."[29][30] Ermey said in a 2015 interview that he supportedTexas SenatorTed Cruz for president. He said, "You know what, I just watched Ted Cruz – I mean, what a tough act to follow. I'm not going to tell you who I'm going to vote for, but I'm going to let you guess [...] and the first two guesses don't count!"[31] He endorsed presidential candidateDonald Trump in 2016.[32]
Ermey was a supporter of theSecond Amendment[33] and a board member of the National Rifle Association.[34]
Ermey was retroactively awarded the Marine CorpsDrill Instructor Ribbon after he retired from the military due to his prior service as a Marine Corps recruit training instructor. Ermey's military awards included:[10]
Ermey recorded voice lines for a "talking" 12-inch tall "motivationalaction figure" depicting him in USMC drill instructor uniform, which replays his signature put-downs with the press of an electronic button on the back.Sideshow Collectibles manufactured the figure in two versions, one with (somewhat) family-friendly language and one with "extra-salty" remarks that includeprofanity; the latter is packaged with anR rating as a warning to consumers. One of these figures appears occasionally onMail Call, wherein it is often referred to as 'Mini-Lee' by the host, and is sometimes seen berating aG.I. Joe.
Avenue N inPalmdale, CA was successfully petitioned to be renamed "R. Lee Ermey Avenue" in memoriam of theAntelope Valley resident.[42] On 10 November 2023, at 1110 hours, an eastbound stretch of Avenue N east of El Camino Sierra was officially opened as the R. Lee Ermey Musical Highway. By driving over the grooved pavement at 45 mph, the road will play 30 seconds of theMarine Corps Hymn.[43]
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