Full Metal Jacket star R Lee Ermey dies aged 74

  • 16/04/2018
Full Metal Jacket star R Lee Ermey dies aged 74.
R Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket Photo credit: Warner Bros

R Lee Ermey, the actor who portrayed Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, has died aged 74.

His cause of death is reported as complications arising from pneumonia.

The news was announced on Ermey's official Twitter account by his long-term manager, Bill Rogin.

"It is with deep sadness that I regret to inform you all that R Lee Ermey ('The Gunny') passed away this morning from complications of pneumonia," the tweet reads.

"He will be greatly missed by all of us. Semper Fi, Gunny. Godspeed."

Off-screen, Ermey was a former United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and an honorary gunnery sergeant.

His military career earned him several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Meritorious Unit Commendation and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Ermey effectively reprised his Full Metal Jacket role in Sir Peter Jackson's 1996 film, The Frighteners, in which he played the ghost of a military drill instructor.

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