Real Life Tough Guys

Dennis Farina 
Dennis Farina wasn't always the go-to guy for memorable law-breakers and law-enforcers on the big and small screen. Before his acting career, Farina was actually well-acquainted with both sides of the law due to his 18 years as a Chicago police officer, most of it as a detective in the burglary division. While shooting on location in the Windy City in 1980, Michael Mann asked Farina, who was working as a police consultant, to do a cameo as one of Robert Prosky's thugs in "Thief" (he runs out of the bushes holding a machine gun, only to be gunned down by James Caan), after which Farina got the acting bug.



Dennis Farina
Dennis Farina wasn't always the go-to guy for memorable law-breakers and law-enforcers on the big and small screen. Before his acting career, Farina was actually well-acquainted with both sides of the law due to his 18 years as a Chicago police officer, most of it as a detective in the burglary division. While shooting on location in the Windy City in 1980, Michael Mann asked Farina, who was working as a police consultant, to do a cameo as one of Robert Prosky's thugs in "Thief" (he runs out of the bushes holding a machine gun, only to be gunned down by James Caan), after which Farina got the acting bug.
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Mel Brooks
Believe it or not, before he became renowned as one of our top comedians and satirists, Mel Brooks served as a U.S. Army engineer during World War II. He mainly defused land mines, though he was already honing his funny-man persona, even on the battlefield -- once after enduring Axis proaganda being blasted via loudspeaker across the battlefield, he counter-attacked by blasting songs by Jewish singer Al Jolson from his own speakers.




Steve Buscemi 
Steve Buscemi is currently known for his portrayal of ruthless gangster Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," but back in the early '80s he worked as a firefighter for four years on FDNY Engine 55. After 9/11, Buscemi returned to Engine 55 to work several 12-hour shifts in sifting through the rubble of the World Trade Center.







Bryan Cranston

He plays meth-maker Walter White on "Breaking Bad," and Bryan Cranston has drawn the attention of the police at least once off-screen as well. Back in the '70s, Cranston and his brother were on a cross-country motorcycle trip when they became suspects in the murder of Daytona Beach restaurant chef Peter Wong, who turned up dead shortly after the brothers left his establishment. The Cranston Boys (it does sound like a Old West gang) were cleared of all charges, and Bryan considered a career in law enforcement himself before he turned to acting.




James Doohan

"I'm givin' it all she's got, Captain!" And the man best known for playing excitable Enterprise engineer Scotty on "Star Trek" once gave it all he had in real life as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Doohan was at the D-Day landing in Normandy and even took six machine gun bullets during the battle. That's right -- machine gun.




Clint Eastwood

There might be no tougher guy on screen -- or off -- than Clint Eastwood. The "Unforgiven" star served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, though one of his most memorable experiences during that time actually occurred while he was on leave. Eastwood was a passenger on a Douglas AD bomber that ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Point Reyes, though he and the pilot escaped from the sinking aircraft and proceeded to swim the three miles to shore.