6. Sir Alec Guinness
Everyone knows Guinness for his role as Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars film franchise. But before his acting career took off, he was a pilot involved in landing infantry craft in the Mediterranean.
Unlike the last two veterans, Guinness was already a trained thespian. He simply made the decision to take a hiatus from the theater to join the Royal Navy in 1939. A hero was soon made of him, as he managed to land nearly 200 British soldiers on the Sicilian beaches during the Italy invasion, while also moving on to ferry weapons to partisan fighters in Yugoslavia.
He even put his life on the line when he was caught in a violent hurricane, only slightly guiding the ship into a harbor before it was thrown against the rocky shore, damaged beyond repair. Thankfully he survived the ordeal, and went on to portray more military roles on the big screen in films like “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Tunes of Glory.”