Jack Palance

Served in: Army-Air
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Best Known For: City Slickers, Shane, Tango & Cash, The Professionals, Contempt
Est. Net Worth: $10 million

Actor Jack Palance was a talented athlete until he was forced to enlist and take his athletic talents to the military, where he served as a member of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII. He was assigned to bomber pilot, where he flew a B-24 bomber. He was injured during the war, and he required facial reconstruction to fix the injuries.

Palance left the Army Air Forces after receiving an honorable discharge, and he enrolled at Stanford University. Palance was just one credit away from graduating when he decided that he wanted to pursue a career in acting.

Jeff Bridges

Served in: Coast Guard
Rank: Petty Officer Second Class
Best Known For: The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart, True Grit, Iron Man
Est. Net Worth: $70 million

Before Jeff Bridges became famous as “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski (among a host of other films), he was a member of the Coast Guard. He spent seven years as a Reservist, and the highest rank he attained was Petty Officer Second Class. His primary unit was a Reserve center in San Luis Obispo.

He joined the military at age eighteen, and he later claimed that he hated every second of military school, though he liked serving in the Coast Guard after graduating from the University of Hawaii. His years of service lasted from 1967 until 1974.