Actor Humphrey Bogart is best known for his leading roles in the films The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), The African Queen (1951), The Caine Mutiny (1954) and more. Lesser known is that Bogart also served in World War I in the Navy and during World War II in the Coast Guard.
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| Humphrey Bogart, circa 1918. He served in the Navy during World War I, enlisting after he was expelled from boarding school for throwing the headmaster into a pond on campus. |
With no viable career options, Bogart enlisted in the United States Navy in the spring of 1918, during World War I. He recalled later, “At eighteen, war was great stuff. Paris! Sexy French girls! Hot damn!”
Bogart was recorded as a model sailor, who spent most of his sea time after the armistice ferrying troops back from Europe. He left the service on June 18, 1919, at the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class.
During World War II, Bogart attempted to re-enlist in the Navy but was rejected due to his age. Bogart then volunteered for the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve in 1944, patrolling the California coastline in his yacht, the Santana.
Many years later, Bogart’s son, Stephen, said that most people know about Bogart‘s movies but “probably fewer know about my father’s other great loves, sailing. Specifically, it was with his 55-foot sailing yacht, Santana. The sea was my father’s sanctuary.”
Bogart’s passion for the sea, extended not just from his time in the Navy, Coast Guard and sailing his yacht, but also in some of the films he starred in.
Bogart, who was born in New York City on Christmas, 1899, died from cancer in January 1957 in Los Angeles.
