Actor Harvey Keitel Reveals What Being A Marine Taught Him

Harvey Keitel, an Academy Award-nominated character actor best known for starring in movies like Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, and Sister Act, is speaking out this week to praise the Marines and talk about how much becoming one positively changed his life forever.

Keitel Talks Joining The Marines

“When I joined the Marines, I was 17 years old, that that was a [life] changer,” Keitel told Fox News while promoting his new movie Lansky. 

Take a look at the trailer for the film about notorious mobster Meyer Lansky here:

Keitel served between 1956 and 1959 and was deployed to Lebanon during that time. 

“It taught me how to endure, taught me how to endure hardships, it taught me what real camaraderie was like. It taught me what sacrifice was really like and what loyalty was,” he explained.

Related: Piers Morgan Slams Prince Harry, Says Queen Must Not Return His Military Titles

He Talks Being Raised By Immigrants

Keitel, 82, also talked about being raised by immigrants.

“I come from a family of immigrants,” he recalled. “My mother and father immigrated. I’m a first-generation American, so I had that to work from. My parents didn’t have an education, and they had to make a living the best they could. And they did. They did a lot of things to make a living.”

His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Poland who ended up in New York.

Keitel went on to say that both of his parents ran a luncheonette, and his father also worked as a milliner. He said that they taught him the value of hard work, which is something that has stuck with him all of his life.

“[I have] many more [projects in the works],” he said. “I’ll let the divine decide when I retire.”

He also recently appeared on The Late Show and shared how he got into acting.

Check it out:

Related: Disabled Marine Veteran Brutally Assaulted After Mask Confrontation – ‘I Was Just Ready To Die’

Harvey Keitel On Being Recast In Apocalypse Now

In another recent interview with Insider, Harvey Keitel cited his time in the Marines as the reason he’s still upset about the rumors that he was recast in Apocalypse Now because he couldn’t hack it working in the jungle. 

“I’m not sad about anything or resent anything except there has been a blurring of the truth,” Keitel said, later adding, “I believe in the book on the making of the movie they said Harvey Keitel didn’t like the jungle; didn’t want to stay in the jungle. Well, Harvey Keitel spent three years in the United States Marines Corps in the jungle.”

Given how radically liberal and anti-military most of Hollywood is, it’s refreshing to hear from a star who clearly has so much respect for the United States Marines.

Thank you for your service, Harvey Keitel!