15. Comedian Lenny Bruce fought in the US Navy in WWII
Lenny Bruce (1925 -1966) popularized edgy comic routines that combined satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. Growing up, he saw little of his father, but was strongly influenced by his mother, a stage performer. He eventually became a poster boy for freedom of speech after prosecutors persecuted him with obscenity charges, of which he was convicted in 1964. But before his meteoric comic career, Lenny Bruce had served his country in WWII.