Jack Warden - World War II

World War II

Warden worked as a nightclub bouncer, tugboat deckhand and lifeguard before joining the United States Navy in 1938. He was stationed in China for three years with the Yangtze River Patrol.

In 1941, he joined the United States Merchant Marine but, quickly tiring of the long convoy runs, he switched to the United States Army in 1942 where he served as a paratrooper in the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, with the elite 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

In 1944, on the eve of the D-Day invasion (during which many of his friends died), Warden, now a Staff Sergeant, shattered his leg by landing in a tree during a night-time practice jump in England. After almost eight months in the hospital (during which time he read a Clifford Odets play and decided to become an actor), he was sent back to the United States. In That Kind of Woman Warden played a paratrooper from the 101st's rivals, the 82nd Airborne Division.

After leaving the military with the rank of master sergeant, he moved to New York City and studied acting on the G.I. Bill. He joined the company of the Dallas Alley Theater and performed on stage for five years. In 1948 he made his television debut on The Philco Television Playhouse and Studio One. He made his film debut with an uncredited role in the 1951 film You're in the Navy Now, a movie which also featured the film debuts of Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.