BARSTOW, Calif. - ‘That guy’ or ‘that girl’ is often a name given to actors or actresses who are better known for who they play, than who they are.
These thespians appear in several films, often playing the same kind of character. So while their roll is often familiar, the actor or actress themselves seem to go unknown.
Dale A. Dye is ‘that guy.’
Dye has worked as a technical advisor and actor on T.V. shows and major motion pictures such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Platoon,” “Band of Brothers,” and most recently “Falling Skies.” Dye, owns the company Warriors, Inc., which aids actors and directors in making military films more authentic.
His credentials: a 20 year career in the United States Marine Corps that spanned the ranks of enlisted, warrant officer, and officer.
Dye was born in 1944, in St. Louis. His mother served the war effort during World War II in the transportation industry, while his father was overseas with the military.
Dye’s father, a liquor salesman and WWII veteran, would often take him on sale calls to the various bars in the area. During these visits, Dye became fascinated by the stories his father and other WWII veterans would share. It was then he became convinced he would join the military.
Wanting to attend military school, Dye convinced his parents to send him to St. Joseph’s Military Academy near Chicago. Later, during his high school years he attended the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Mo. Unfortunately, his plans for further military education fell through when he failed the U.S. Naval Academy entrance exam twice.
In 1963, Dye fulfilled his childhood vision of life in the military and enlisted in the Marine Corps.
He was sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego for boot camp. After graduating boot camp, Dye initially served as a mortarman, but after a year became dissatisfied with a life he said was too routine.
With prior experience writing for the MMA school newspaper, Dye was approved a lateral move into military journalism. It was also around that time U.S. involvement in Vietnam was ramping up, and by 1967, Dye was serving as a combat correspondent with the 1st Marine Division.
Over the course of the Vietnam War, Dye received several military awards; among those were three Purple Hearts, and a Bronze Star with a valor device.
After the war, Dye decided to remain in the Marine Corps. As an enlisted Marine Dye earned the rank of master sergeant and eventually became a warrant officer. After earning a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature from the University of Maryland, Dye earned a commission as a Marine officer.
During this time, Dye noticed Hollywood’s misrepresentation of military-life in films. He said that movies just didn’t portray military personnel correctly. It was then; the idea for Warriors, Inc. began to grow.
In 1983, Dye retired from the Marine Corps as a captain.
After his military career, Dye set out to forge his career in Hollywood. After being thrown off enough movie lots to know the security guards on a first-name basis, got his first break in 1986 when Tobe Hooper hired him to be a technical advisor for Hooper’s sci-fi action film, “Invaders from Mars.” It was also at this time Dye met director Oliver Stone, who was planning to make a Vietnam War movie called “Platoon.”
Stone, also a Vietnam War veteran, agreed that “Platoon” had to be an accurate depiction of how soldiers in Vietnam lived and fought. Dye was hired to train the actors in a secluded area in the Philippines where the movie was being filmed. Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, and Tom Berenger drilled, trained and lived like soldiers for three weeks under Dye’s watchful eye.
With the success of “Platoon,” winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Dye’s reputation as a technical consultant was set in stone. He then created Warriors, Inc., which trains actors for military roles in film and television. The skills and services of Warriors, Inc., recently have expanded to also include video games and reality television.
To this day, Dye remains deeply involved in creating movies and acting. Currently Dye is in preproduction on a WWII movie called “No Better Place to Die” that he wrote and will direct. He is also working on a 10-part mini-series about the Korean War called “The Forgotten War.” Dye said he hopes with the help of Warriors, Inc., he can continue to promote an accurate and respectable view of the American warfighter.
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nformation for this article was gathered from http://www.semissourian.com/story/1978009.html, http://warriorsinc.com/, and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0245653/bio.