Full Metal Jacket star R. Lee Ermey dies at 74

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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R. Kee Ermey.
(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

R. Lee Ermey, famous for playing Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, died Sunday from complications of pneumonia. He was 74.

A U.S. Marine Corps staff sergeant, drill instructor, and honorary gunnery sergeant, he spent 11 years in the military, including 14 months in Vietnam. When he retired, Ermey decided to take acting classes, and ended up working as a technical adviser on Apocalypse Now, in addition to playing a helicopter pilot. His Full Metal Jacket performance earned Ermey a Golden Globe nomination, and in addition to acting in films, he also had several voiceover roles, including as the lead green plastic soldier in the Toy Story movies.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.