'The Gunny' R. Lee Ermey Dead At 74
LOS ANGELES (AP/CBS13) — R. Lee Ermey, a former marine who made a career in Hollywood playing hard-nosed military men like Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket," has died.
Ermey's longtime manager Bill Rogin says he died Sunday morning from pneumonia-related complications. He was 74.
The Kanas native was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his memorable performance in "Full Metal Jacket," immortalizing lines like "What is your major malfunction?" He also voiced the little green army man Sarge in the "Toy Story" films and played a helicopter pilot in "Apocalypse Now," among many other roles.
Rogin says that while his characters were often hard and principled, the real Ermey was a family man and a kind and gentle soul who supported the men and women who serve.
After being arrested twice as a teenager, the judge gave him the choice of jail or the military. Ermey chose the military and enlisted in the Marine Corps.