Dale Dye
Dale Dye | |
|---|---|
United States of America | |
| Service/ |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1964–84 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ Combat "V" (2) |
| Website | daledye |
Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializing in portraying realistic military action in Hollywood films. Dye has also offered his expertise to television, such as the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, and video games, including the Medal of Honor series.
Early life and education
Dye was born on October 8, 1944, in
Military career
Dye had hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, but after failing the entrance exam three times and having exhausted his family's meager funds getting through military academy, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines in January 1964.[2] His unit was among the first to deploy to Vietnam in 1965. Officers in the unit noticed his keen observational skills and literary interest, and encouraged him to reclassify as a combat correspondent. He became one of a very few Marine combat correspondents. He sent stories to military publications and to the hometown newspapers of fellow Marines.[3] As a correspondent, he saw more battles than many low-ranking infantrymen. Dye developed an immense respect for the "grunts" who took the brunt of any action.[2]
Dye was wounded during the
"Dye's heart is with the grunts", said Bob Rea, who worked with Dye as a combat correspondent during the worst of Tet. "He feels like he owes something to those people. He is a grunt wannabe." During three
Fellow Marine correspondent Gustav Hasford dubbed him "Daddy D.A." (as he was among the oldest of the correspondents) and included him as a character in his first semi-autobiographical Vietnam novel The Short-Timers, and more extensively in his second, The Phantom Blooper. The movie based on Hasford's first novel Full Metal Jacket included the "Daddy D.A." character (played by Keith Hodiak), though neither the character nor Dye's name is explicitly mentioned in the dialogue.[3]
In his book
And there was a Marine correspondent, Sergeant Dale Dye, who sat with a tall yellow flower sticking out of his helmet cover, a really outstanding target. He was rolling his eyes around and saying, 'Oh yes, oh yes, Charlie's got his shit together here, this will be bad," and smiling happily. It was the same smile I saw a week later when a sniper's bullet tore up a wall two inches above his head, odd cause for amusement in anyone but a grunt.
Later career
Technical advising
Dye retired from the Marine Corps in 1984 and founded Warriors, Inc. The company specializes in training actors in war films to portray their roles realistically, and provides research, planning, staging and on-set consultation for directors and other film-production personnel. His company is the top military consultant to Hollywood.[3] While on active duty, Dye was a combat correspondent and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Maryland University College. After retiring, Dye became a correspondent for the Soldier of Fortune magazine. He worked for the magazine for one year, during which he worked in Central America, providing guerrilla warfare training to troops in El Salvador and Nicaragua while reporting on conflicts in the region.[6]
Dye was determined to make Hollywood's depictions of battle more realistic. After unsuccessfully offering his services to a number of directors, he pitched fellow Vietnam War veteran Oliver Stone a plan to put actors through a mock boot camp before production of the movie Platoon. Dye put the principal actors—including Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, and Forest Whitaker—through an immersive 30-day military-style training regimen. He limited how much food and water they received; when the actors slept, he fired blanks to keep the tired actors awake.[3] Dye, who had a small role in the movie as Captain Harris, also wrote the novelization based on Stone's screenplay.
Dye also worked as a military technical adviser and personal trainer on the 1992 film Last of the Mohicans and after working in the same capacity on the acclaimed HBO series Band of Brothers (2001), producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg called upon his expertise again for their follow-up series The Pacific (2010) and Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air (2024). In 2017 Dye was recognised as an Honorary Member of the 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment (the regiment under the command of General Robert Sink, whom Dye played in Band of Brothers) for his work in bringing a high degree of quality and realism to cinematic portrayals of combat.[citation needed]
Acting
After Platoon's critical success, Dye played a role in another Vietnam War movie, Casualties of War, and also prominently appeared as Colonel Robert Sink in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, on which his company also worked.
Dye appeared in
Dye played himself in
Writing
Dye has written several novels, including Run Between the Raindrops in 1985 (also published as Citadel) and Conduct Unbecoming (1992), and the novelization of the film Platoon. Along with wife Julia and comic-book artist Gerry Kissell, Dye created the critically acclaimed and best-selling graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo (
Radio work and video games
During the
Bibliography
- Dye, Captain Dale & Dye, Dr. Julia (2011). Code Word: Geronimo. San Diego, California: ISBN 978-1613770979.
- Dye, Dale (1992). Conduct Unbecoming (paperback ed.). New York: ISBN 0425132366.
- Dye, Dale A. (2013). Beirut File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0989798303.
- Dye, Dale A. (2012). Chosin File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0985338800.
- Dye, Dale A. (2014). Contra File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0989798341.
- Dye, Dale A. (2008). Laos File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0982167007.
- Dye, Dale A. (2013). Outrage: Author's Preferred Edition (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0985338855.
- Dye, Dale A. (2010). Peleliu File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0982167014.
- Dye, Dale A. (1986). Platoon. New York: ISBN 1121560644.
- Dye, Dale A. (1985). Run Between the Raindrops (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0989798372.
- Dye, Dale A. & Laemlein, Tom (2015). Small Arms of the Vietnam War: A Photographic Study. North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0986195518.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Platoon | Captain Harris | |
| 1986 | Invaders from Mars | Squad Leader | |
| 1988 | The Beast | Helicopter Crew Chief | |
| 1989 | Always | Don | |
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July | Infantry Colonel | |
| 1989 | Casualties of War | Captain Hill | |
| 1989 | The Favorite | French Officer | |
| 1990 | Kid | Garvey | |
| 1990 | Fire Birds | Colonel A.K. McNeil | |
| 1990 | The Fourth War | Sergeant Major | |
| 1990 | Spontaneous Combustion | General | |
| 1991 | JFK | General Y | |
| 1991 | Servants of Twilight | Police Officer | |
| 1992 | Under Siege | Captain Nick Garza | |
| 1993 | Heaven & Earth | Larry | |
| 1993 | Cover Story | Jack | |
| 1994 | Endangered | Ricky | |
| 1994 | Guarding Tess | CIA Agent Charles Ivy | |
| 1994 | Natural Born Killers | Officer Dale Wrigley | |
| 1994 | Blue Sky | Colonel Mike Anwalt | |
| 1994 | The Puppet Masters | Brande | |
| 1995 | Outbreak | Lieutenant Colonel Briggs | |
| 1995 | Under Siege 2: Dark Territory | Captain Nick Garza | |
| 1996 | Sgt. Bilko | First Engineer | |
| 1996 | Mission: Impossible | IMF Agent Frank Barnes | |
| 1997 | Trial and Error | Dr. Stone | |
| 1997 | Starship Troopers | Mobile Infantry General | |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | War Department Colonel | |
| 1999 | A Table for One | Vernon Harpwood | |
| 2000 | Rules of Engagement | General Perry | |
| 2001 | Spy Game | Commander Wiley | |
| 2003 | Missing Brendan | General Temekin | |
| 2005 | The Great Raid | General Krueger | |
| 2007 | Music Within | Captain Ruzicka | |
| 2010 | Knight and Day | Frank Jenkins | |
| 2011 | Naked Run | Harry | |
| 2011 | Larry Crowne | Cox | |
| 2014 | Planes: Fire & Rescue | Cabbie (voice) | |
| 2014 | The Purge: Anarchy | Donald Talbott, New Founding Father | |
| 2016 | Sniper: Special Ops
|
Lieutenant Colonel Jackson | |
| 2016 | Range 15 | President Mattis | |
| 2019 | The Last Full Measure | Holt | |
| 2021 | Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone | General Moorland | |
| 2023 | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Vice Admiral R.T. Dewey |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Billionaire Boys Club | Defense Attorney | Uncredited |
| 1988 | Supercarrier | Captain Henry K. 'Hank' Madigan | |
| 1988 | Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Closed Set | Assistant director | TV movie |
| 1989 | The Neon Empire | Chief Bates | TV movie |
| 1990 | The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson | Unknown | TV movie |
| 1991 | Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis | Major Green | TV movie |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | President Colonel Kenners | Episode: "Rest in Pieces" |
| 1992 | Raven
|
Colonel Paul David Mackay | Episode: "Is Someone Crazy in Here or Is It Me" |
| 1992 | Dead On: Relentless II | Captain Rivers | |
| 1995–1998 | JAG | Sergeant Major Hollis / Colonel Bill Cobb | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Space: Above and Beyond | Major Jack Colquitt | Episode: "Who Monitors the Birds?" |
| 1996 | Within the Rock | General Hurst | TV movie |
| 1997 | Rough Riders | Colonel Leonard Wood | TV miniseries |
| 1998 | Seven Days | General Cole | Episode: "Doppleganger: Part 1" |
| 1998 | Operation Delta Force 2: Mayday | Captain Halsey Lang | TV movie |
| 1999 | Air America | Captain Gage | Episode: "The Court-Martial of Rio Arnett" |
| 1999–2004 | Rocket Power | Lieutenant Tice Ryan (voice) | Recurring cast |
| 1999 | Mutiny | Unknown | TV movie |
| 2000 | The Others | Captain Ken Radley | Episode: "Souls on Board" |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Colonel Robert Sink | 7 episodes |
| 2003 | 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out | SWAT Lieutenant | TV movie |
| 2005–2010 | Entourage | Firearms Instructor / Scuba Instructor / Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2006 | Las Vegas | Sergeant Burn | Episode: "And Here's Mike with the Weather" |
| 2006 | Commander in Chief | General Peter Allyson | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | The Loop
|
Ralph Somkin | Episode: "The Stranger" |
| 2007 | Chuck | General Stanfield | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Intersect" |
| 2010 | Cold Case | Al Wasserlauf | Episode: "Free Love" |
| 2011–2013 | Falling Skies | General Porter | 11 episodes |
Video games
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Platoon (American Laser Games) (Unreleased) | Captain Harris | |
| 1999 | Medal of Honor | Opening Movie Narrator (voice) | |
| 2002 | Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | Narration in Training (voice) | |
| 2003 | Medal of Honor: Rising Sun | Gunnery Sergeant Jack 'Gunny' Lauton (voice) | |
| 2005 | Medal of Honor: European Assault | OSS Handler / Multiplayer Narrator | |
| 2005 | Battlefield 2: Modern Combat | Lieutenant Colonel Bob Scott (voice) | |
| 2007 | Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway | Colonel Robert Sink (voice) |
Military awards
Dye's military decorations and awards include:[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Dale Dye Biography (1944–)". filmreference.com. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
- ^ a b c DE JONGE, PETER (November 13, 2005). "Dale Dye Will Make a Man Out of You". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e "Dale Dye Is Hollywood's Drill Sergeant". April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ Szoldra, Paul (March 26, 2015). "Here's how Hollywood legend Dale Dye earned the Bronze Star for heroism in Vietnamm". Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0679735250.
- ^ "Dale Dye Biography". daledye.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
- ^ Rierson, Richard (March 14, 2013). "26 – Dale Dye: Author, Actor, Founder of Warriors, Inc". Dose of Leadership. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ photo: 22 ribbons
Further reading
- Herr, Michael (1977). "Chapter 2: Hell Sucks". Dispatches. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 70–85.
External links
- Official website
- Warriors, Inc.
- Dale Dye at IMDb
- Dale Dye at LeaderNetwork.org
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