ID This Famous Person

[Rick G.]

Who is this famous radio / TV personality?

Hint: This picture is circa 1958. 

[John Rowehl]

Bob Barker?

[oldscoutdiesel]

Yes, Bob Barker.  And I have it on good authority that his parents are buried in the cemetery at Verdel, Nebraska, if anyone is interested. 

[Rick G.]

Correct-a-moon-doh. Good job guys. Bob Barker. It may surprise some to know he was a F-4U Corsair pilot in WWII. 

[barnsfull]

Here's another. Picture from about same time as Rick's above.  She was on a 60's sitcom.

[from H to 80]

Mary Ann,from Gilligan's island, i had a crush on her as a young boy.

[twostepn2001]

2 hours ago, Rick G. said:

Bob Barker. It may surprise some to know he was a F-4U Corsair pilot in WWII. 

Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick on the Tonight Show also flew Corsairs during WWll and a Cessna OE-1 Bird Dog during the Korean War.  Also Dennis Weaver, "Chester" on Gunsmoke flew a Grumman F4F Wildcat and later a Corsair too. William Schallart, character on lots of TV shows flew P-38's. And of course Jimmy Stewart flew B-17's and B-24's during WWll and flew several missions in B-52's during Viet Nam. Gene Roddenberry, creator of "Star Trek", flew B-17's in the Pacific. Charlton Heston flew in B-25's in the northern Pacific.

[acem]

A neighbor was a pilot in WWII. Don't remember what he flew.

 

[Lars (midessa)]

15 hours ago, oldscoutdiesel said:

Yes, Bob Barker.  And I have it on good authority that his parents are buried in the cemetery at Verdel, Nebraska, if anyone is interested. 

According to ‘findagrave.com’ Bob Barkers parents are buried in Springfield MO.

[Reichow7120]

11 hours ago, twostepn2001 said:

Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick on the Tonight Show also flew Corsairs during WWll and a Cessna OE-1 Bird Dog during the Korean War.  Also Dennis Weaver, "Chester" on Gunsmoke flew a Grumman F4F Wildcat and later a Corsair too. William Schallart, character on lots of TV shows flew P-38's. And of course Jimmy Stewart flew B-17's and B-24's during WWll and flew several missions in B-52's during Viet Nam. Gene Roddenberry, creator of "Star Trek", flew B-17's in the Pacific. Charlton Heston flew in B-25's in the northern Pacific.

Are we doing just the flyers? Or we doing any famous person in the service.

You mentioned Johnny Carson. He was a ensign on the Pennsylvania when it was Torpedoed in Buckner Bay Okinawa at the very end of the war.

James Arness in Gunsmoke was a Anzio Italy veteran. He was badly wounded there and his wounds bothered him the rest of his life. They did certain tricks with the camera to hide his limp. They also worked filming early in the day for Arness. As the day wore on his limp would get worse.

Another interesting fact about Jimmy Stewart was those of us that have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" when the character was having his meltdown, that was Jimmy Stewart channeling his PTSD from his own war experiences.

 

[Alan Dinan]

Clint Eastwood was a lifeguard in the military and almost died in a plane crash a couple miles off of the pacific coast. He swam most of the 2 miles in a heavy fog.

[Rick G.]

1 hour ago, Reichow7120 said:

Are we doing just the flyers? Or we doing any famous person in the service.

You mentioned Johnny Carson. He was a ensign on the Pennsylvania when it was Torpedoed in Buckner Bay Okinawa at the very end of the war.

James Arness in Gunsmoke was a Anzio Italy veteran. He was badly wounded there and his wounds bothered him the rest of his life. They did certain tricks with the camera to hide his limp. They also worked filming early in the day for Arness. As the day wore on his limp would get worse.

Another interesting fact about Jimmy Stewart was those of us that have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" when the character was having his meltdown, that was Jimmy Stewart channeling his PTSD from his own war experiences.

 

Great stuff coming in on the subject. By all means include all branches of service. Ex Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a B-17 pilot in WWII, and completed 30 missions. 

[oldscoutdiesel]

Sorry Lars, I may have mis-spoken. I will check with my source in a couple of days or go find the grave site myself.  It's only 80 miles away and I get up there from time to time.

[1256pickett]

Try this one. Few decades later but well before his fame. 

[plowboy64]

Drew Carey?

[1256pickett]

Yup. Bob barker’s replacement. Picture from his days in the marines. ( may have been reserves?)  I was in college with a kid from his hometown that looked just like him when his tv show hit it big. Cleveland was pretty proud of him. 

[Rawleigh99]

Jimmy Stewart was in my father's squadron flying B24s in England.

[twostepn2001]

Just browsing on Youtube and saw short video about Jackie Coogan, (who played Uncle Fester on the "Addams Family" TV show) was a Waco glider pilot and flew quite a few missions in Burma during WWll.