Ermey, a Vietnam veteran, and Marine Corps drill instructor/staff sergeant (with honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant), was probably most well-known for his real-life-mirroring portrayal of the tough Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Who on earth can forget that opening scene? Ermey is not the only reason it works so well, but he’s a HUGE part of it. Casting AS storytelling: what Ermey presents IS the story. And he knows it in his bone marrow.
He worked constantly, often playing a variation of that Full Metal Jacket role. He was incredibly touching and pained – and so REAL – as the father of the murdered girl in Dead Man Walking.
And of COURSE he voiced “Sarge” in the Toy Story movies.
No other choice, really.
Here’s a nice tribute on Rogerebert.com, written by B.J. Bethel.
Semper Fi.
