The Price Is Right game show host used to be a US Navy pilot, and a very good one at that. He flew eight different types of aircraft while on active duty and was highly regarded by his peers as being among the very best.
In June 1943, after he completed his naval aviation cadet status, Barker reported for duty, where he was commissioned as an ensign. Over a period of 18 months, he was trained at eight different wartime locations, excelling nicely. He is one of those celebrities who has actually seen some real action and found he was a natural at it.
Steve McQueen
One of the things that made Steve McQueen a genuine “king of cool” to his followers was his anti-hero persona. It drove girls crazy back in the 1960s and 70s, and his films were regularly flooded by fans, making them box office hits. Among his most popular films were Papillon, Bullit, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Great Escape, and The Cincinnati Kid.
To add some more spice to his already impressive status in showbiz, he was actually in the Marines by age 17, joining the corps in 1947. But you’d be disappointed if you thought he’d enlisted out of patriotism because, in his own words, he “felt bored with hanging around and went and joined the Marines.” He went AWOL and got 30 days in the Brig with a $90 fine.
Pat Sajak
Before Pat Sajak started as host of the hit TV show, Wheel of Fortune, he was employed as a DJ for the armed forces radio. It wasn’t the experience he was looking for in active duty – having secretly been hopeful of more action – and this made him feel bad at times.
Sajak found it way too easy. He said “ I used to feel a bit guilty about my relatively soft duty. After all, I was billeted (lodged) in a hotel, and there were plenty of nice restaurants around. But I always felt a little better when I met guys who came into town from the field and thanked us for bringing them a little bit of home.”
Carl Reiner
In his prime, let’s just say Carl Reiner was the guy who had it all. He’s got good looks, a wonderful sense of humor, and intelligence to boot. He’s known to us as the producer, writer, and actor of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and has been awarded nine Emmy Awards and a Grammy throughout his career.
Carl Reiner’s foray into the military was not out of his own will, although he did not feel forced to do it either. He was drafted into the US Army air force back in 1943, under an all-hands-on-deck policy. He performed his tasks diligently and was promoted to the rank of corporal.
Johnny Cash
The age of rock ’n’ roll was left with an unfillable void when this rock star departed. Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, author, and guitarist. Having sold over 90 million records worldwide, he was primarily known for his unique country music; classic tunes that turned him into a music icon.
We bet you didn’t know he served time in the military, being the star that he was. It gets even crazier when you learn that he also became a spy, working dangerously to collect sensitive information for the government. In 1950, enlisted in the US Air Force, he was a Morse Code Interceptor for the 6910th Security Group in West Germany. His primary job was to intercept Russian military radio transmissions, and he was likely among the first to hear about the death of Joseph Stalin, well before it reached the rest of the world.