Milos Forman (1932-2018), and R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018)

Two cinematic legends have passed away.

Director Milos Forman, who helmed two films to the Oscar for Best Picture, has passed at age 86. A native of the former Czechoslovakia who came to the United States in the 1960’s, Forman was a rebellious young filmmaker who brought the odd-man-out in his films, and rose to Oscar glory in 1975 when he directed the adaptation of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST to five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. A few years later in 1984, his adaptation of the stage play AMADEUS would again earn him Best Picture and Best Director along with many other honors. Over a decade later he was nominated for THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT in 1996.

His other notable film credits include HAIR (1979), RAGTIME (1981), the Andy Kaufman biopic MAN ON THE MOON (1999), and GOYA’S GHOSTS (2006).

Also passing away was actor R. Lee Ermey at 74.

A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the Vietnam War, Ermey got his first break in Hollywood when he was working as a consultant in Francis Ford Coppola’s APOCALPYSE NOW in 1979, and was cast as First Air Calvary chopper pilot. That same year he was cast as a drill instructor in THE BOYS IN COMPANY C.

In 1987 he would have a second try at playing a drill instructor when he was cast as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam war film, FULL METAL JACKET. The role would immortalize him in cinema, and provide cinephiles with endless quotes to pull from. The iconic role and performance would earn him a Golden Globe nomination.

His other notable roles, which included voiceover acting, included MISSISSIPPI BURNING (1988), FLETCH LIVES (1989), TOY SOLDIERS (1991), SE7EN (1995), LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995), TOY STORY (and its sequels), THE FRIGHTENERS (1996), THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003), WILLARD (2003), and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING (2006).

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These two men leave us after making a long-lasting impression on the silver screen, and they both did so in unconventional ways. Milos Forman, as an immigrant, must have been drawing on his experiences in coming to a new country, for his focus on the odd-man-out, the reject, and the outsider fueled his best works and managed to speak to the outsider in all of us. R. Lee Ermey was a soldier at heart, and he was such a good one he managed to extend his military career long after he received his Honorable Discharge. His performance in FULL METAL JACKET cemented the image of the military drill instructor forever, and when this Blogger entered boot camp in 1991…that was the exact persona I expected, and that’s exactly what I got. Ermey, and Forman drew on personal experience to create, and the roots of all creation are what matters the most.