18. Gene Hackman

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Gene Hackman lied about his age at 16-years-old to join the Marines. The actor’s first “showbiz” job was as a DJ on the Armed Forces Network (not unlike Robin Williams in “Good Morning Vietnam”.)
17. James Earl Jones

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James Earl Jones became a cadet for the U.S. Army before the Korean War, but ended up staying on American soil to help establish a cold weather training unit in Colorado.
16. Lord Richard Attenborough

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The late Richard Attenborough served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and was subsequently knighted in 1976–that’s almost twenty years before we saw him outrun dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park”.