Celebrities in the Military: 14 Beloved Stars We Never Realized Were Veterans!

Country star Willie Nelson enrolled in the Air Force in 1950, but he had to be medically discharged 9 months later due to back problems. 

 When asked about his experience, Nelson said, "I was in the Air Force awhile, and they had what they call 'policing the area.' That's where you looked around, and if there's anything wrong here, there, anywhere, you took care of your own area. And I think that's a pretty good thing to go by. If everyone just takes care of their own area, then we won't have any problems. Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there. And look around you and see what needs to be changed."

Related: Willie Nelson Songs: 15 of the Outlaw Country Icon’s Hits, Ranked & the Stories Behind Them  

The king of late-night TV, the late, great, Johnny Carson, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1943 to 1945. He said one of his best memories was performing magic tricks to try and help boost morale. 

Notes military.com, "By the time he turned 18 in 1943, World War II was raging and Carson joined the Navy through a special program designed to churn out good officers for the war effort. He attended Columbia University and was commissioned an ensign before the war's end. Assigned to the battleship USS Pennsylvania, which survived Pearl Harbor, his duties were to decode encrypted enemy radio traffic."

The iconic Golden Girl Bea Arthur was one of the first members of the Women's Reserve in the Marines, serving from 1943 to 1945. She drove military trucks and was also a typist. Interestingly, while she was alive she denied her military service, but the records are there.

In an interview with military.com, The Golden Girls author Dr. Katie Browne explained of Arthur, "Her service becomes like evidence of badassery. She's got that sort of quality, being an introvert with people and, later in life, being so politically active with different causes, it makes sense to me if there were a call for service in World War II, she would answer that call." 

Related: ‘The Golden Girls’ Secrets: 12 Amazing Stories About Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia

Though she didn't serve the USA, Dr.Ruth the famed media personality served in Israel as a trained sniper in 1947 and 1948. Who knew?!

Before World War II, when Karola Ruth Siegel was just 10-years-old, she was sent to Switzerland for her own safety. While she was living in an orphanage there, her father was killed at Auschwitz while her mother mysteriously disappeared. When the war ended, she moved to Palestine and, while living in Jerusalem, in 1948 she joined the Haganah, predecessor to the modern Israel Defense Forces (IDF). That group, taking advantage of her 4-and-1-half feet height, trained her to be a scout and a sniper. As a result, in that same year she served in the Israeli War of Independence. 

Admittedly, it's going to be difficult looking at Dr. Ruth in the same way. 

Comedian and game show host Drew Carey served in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1980 to 1986 before becoming a beloved TV personality.  

"Military life and experiences gave me incredible experiences in leadership — especially in small groups, and under pressure,” Carey said in an interview with U.S. Veterans Magazine in 2022. "I believe it's important for us to always recognize the sacrifices it takes to serve in our military, and how necessary they are … We need to recognize and applaud people in our military who do their jobs well, and with honor. Period."

The Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney joined the U.S. Army in 1944 and served for 21 months. "He was," reports backtonormandy.org, "assigned to a US Army Special Services Battalion, which brought entertainers directly to combat troops. Three entertainers: one musician, one singer, and one MC to do the joking, would give what became known as ‘jeep shows’. In his troop of three, Rooney was the MC and his first show was given 3 miles from the front line in a Belgium snowstorm." 

He would eventually be awarded the Bonze Star Medal for entertaining troops in combat zones. 

The rock 'n' roll guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, enlisted in the Army in 1961 and served for one year before switching back to his guitar.  

Observes military.com, "As you'd expect, young Private Hendrix's rebellious attitude didn't especially wow his commanding officers; among his many faults, he slept while on duty, required constant supervision and wasn't a particularly good marksman. According to reports, he was a 'habitual offender' when it came to missing midnight bed checks and was unable to 'carry on an intelligent conversation.'

"True to his calling," the site adds, "he continued playing guitar while off duty, which didn't endear him with the other men in the barracks, who just wanted a good night's sleep. His constant noodling led one of his commanding officers to comment, 'This is one of his faults, because his mind apparently cannot function while performing duties and thinking about his guitar.'"

Yep, the Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner was an Army soldier in World War II, from 1944 to 1946. While there, he won a sharpshooter badge!

Elaborates forces.net, "Just seven years before he created Playboy magazine from his kitchen table, Hefner joined the Army, serving as an infantry clerk and drawing cartoons for various military newspapers. He served as a noncombatant following his graduation from high school in January 1944, until being discharged in 1946. Hefner is even said to have won a sharpshooter badge for firing an M1 during basic training, as well as making it through 'Killer College,' in which troops went through maneuvers while throwing real grenades."

The Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in the early 1950's, and served for a total of 18 months. Details va.gov, "Nimoy landed a couple of minor roles from 1950 to 1952, but when money became tight and there was a lack of opportunity, he joined the Army to earn a steady income. He served 18 months at Fort Ord, California, followed by service in Georgia at Fort Benning and Fort McPherson. Nimoy served in the Special Services Division, a branch of the military solely created for entertainment. It was formed in July 1940 to encourage soldiers with talents in acting, music and writing to provide entertainment to their comrades. The Army further encouraged Nimoy to become an actor by supporting his dream."

They did this by casting him in a number of films produced by the military, include the Marines' Combat Psychiatry — The Division Psychiatrist," in which he played a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was discharged with the rank of a sergeant.

Related: The Original ‘Star Trek’ Cast: Where They’ve Boldly Gone, Then and Now

The happiest painter ever, Bob Ross, was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years — from 1961 to 1981. Wonder if he ever painted while he was there? Maybe not, but military.com does offer this: "He was a first sergeant at the base clinic at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. That's where he saw snow and mountains -- frequent features of his painting work -- for the first time.

"It's hard to believe that some former airmen out there first met Ross, of all people, while he was shouting at them in a Smokey Bear campaign hat. While it's true he taught basic training, that was not the career path he wanted for himself. 'I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work,' Ross later said. 'The job requires you to be a mean, tough person, and I was fed up with it. I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way anymore."

The TV host and entertainer Ed McMahon served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1941 to 1966 before he left and went into show business. 

Check out this background provided by defense.gov: "In 1944, he was commissioned in the Marine Corps and earned his pilot's wings. He became a Marine Corps test pilot and a flight instructor in F4U Corsair aircraft at Lee Field, in Green Cove Springs, Florida. McMahon remained in the Marine Corps Reserve after the war and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He was awarded six Air Medals for flying 85 combat missions over North Korea in an OE-1 unarmed observation aircraft. After the Korean War, McMahon remained in the Marine Corps Reserve and retired as a colonel in 1966."

The incredible actor, whose voice you most likely would recognize anywhere, Morgan Freeman, was so interested in flying that he turned down a drama scholarship to enlist! He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1955 and left in 1959.

Recounts defense.gov, "After graduating from high school in 1955, he [opted] to enlist in the Air Force, where he was trained to be an automatic tracking radar repairman. Automatic tracking radar stations were used for automatically aligning radar antennas toward an air target such as an aircraft or missile to continuously measure its location ... After four years in the Air Force, he was honorably discharged as an airman first class in 1959." 

Famed for voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King, James Earl Jones, was enlisted in the army from 1953 to 1955. 

Elaborates va.gov, "After graduating high school, Jones went to the University of Michigan. He enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program there, where he excelled as a cadet. Jones was in the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society.

"Jones commissioned in mid-1953, heading to the Infantry Officers Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. He later attended Ranger school and helped establish a cold weather training command near Leadville, Colorado. He discharged from the Army as a first lieutenant."

Before young Tom Selleck sprouted his famous mustache and many years before Magnum P.I., the actor served in the California National Guard from 1967 until 1973.

"I am a veteran; I'm proud of it,” Selleck said. "We're all brothers and sisters in that sense. Regardless of whether you have political problems with whatever mission they’re on, they just served, and we need to thank them for it.”