List of military brats

This is a list of famous military brats.

What is a military brat?

A military brat is an objective term used to describe the child of somebody in the military. It is neither a subjective nor a derogatory term.

While the term exists in many English-speaking countries, only the United States has extensively studied these people as an identifiable demographic group.

Why a list of military brats?

Mary Wertsch, the author of Military Brat: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress, said in an interview, "The military is more than a LifeStyle, it's a culture with its own norms and values." This culture is, for the military brat, "The biggest thing overall [because] the commonalities of our rearing are so powerful ... It's an identity that supersedes almost all others. It cuts across lines of gender, race and class. It shapes us our entire lives through. You don't stop being a military brat when your parents retire from service life. Retirement is also part of the story."

Military Brats are shaped by their upbringing. There are numerous commonalities (both positive and negative) that impact military brats. Because of these factors, military brats often feel like "outsiders." They often feel like they have no home and never truly fit in with civilians. Military brats often have more in common with other military brats of differing cultures than they might with non-brat peers.

This is a list of famous people who have shared this common culture. Fictional military brats can be found here.

Famous military brats

United States

Air Force

Jessica Alba. Actress 1
America. Folk rock band; all three original members
Jay Bell. MLB player, born on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Janice Brown. United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 2
John Cornyn U. S. Senator 3
John Denver. Singer 4
Pam Grier. Actress and cousin of Rosey Grier, 5.
Mia Hamm. Soccer player 6
Heloise. Columnist "Ask Heloise" 7
Carrie Henn Actress famous for her role as Newt in Aliens 8
Kris Kristofferson. Country Singer won 1970 Song of the Year 9
Swoosie Kurtz. Two Time Tony Award Winner 10
Chris LeDoux. Country music singer, rodeo cowboy 11
Annie Leibovitz Portrait photographer
Shawn Michaels. Professional wrestler 12
Robin Olds. Three time Air Force ace was the son of an Air Force General.
Victoria Principal. Actress 13
Shawnee Smith. Actress
Stephen Stills. Singer/Songwriter
Ronda Storms. Florida State Senator 14
Derrick Thomas. NFL Linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs
Gore Vidal. Novelist. Mother's third husband was Major General Robert Olds.
Mykelti Williamson. Actor most famous for role of Bubba in Forest Gump 15
Michael Winslow. Actor/comedian best known as "Jones" from the Police Academy movies16
Danny Wuerffel. Heisman Trophy Winner and NFL Quarterback 17

Army

Hunter "Patch" Adams Doctor made famous by Robin Williams role 18
Christina Aguilera Grammy winning singer 19
Jackson Browne:Singer/songwriter; Born West Germany; Father an American serviceman; as per Wikipedia entry20
Levar Burton Actor 21
Joelle Carter Model, actress 22
Jerry Cantrell Guitarist, Singer/Songwriter 23
Ciara Grammy winning singer 24
Johnny Damon Baseball player 25
Faye Dunaway Actress 26
Newt Gingrich Politician 27
Scott Hall Professional wrestler 28
Toby Keith Famous country music singer
Alan Keyes Former Presidential candidate 29
Cardinal Bernard Law Cardinal and former Archbishop of Boston 30
Harold C. Lyon, Jr. Author, Professor, winner of Gold Medal in International Film & Video Festival, Former Director of Education for Gifted & Talented in US Dept of Education, Project Officer for development of Sesame Street. 31
Douglas MacArthur Medal of Honor winner and Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific during WWII 32
Jerri Manthey actress who is best known for her appearances on reality shows 33
Rudy Maxa "The Savvy Traveller"/National Geographic reporter 34
Julianne Moore Oscar nominated Actress 35
Shaquille O'Neal Basketball superstar 36
Priscilla Presley Wife of Elvis Presley and actress 37
Jeri Ryan "7 of 9" in Star Trek: Voyager 38
Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. General in charge of Desert Storm39
Leah Ward Sears Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice 40
Rachel Smith Miss USA 2007 was born on a US base in Panama. Both of her parents were in the service, as both were stationed in Panama. 41
Michael Stipe Vocalist for R.E.M. 42 43 44
Sharon Tate Actress 45
Elizabeth Vargas ABC News anchor 46
Gore Vidal Novelist. Biological father was a West Point grad and Army aviator.
Mary Edwards Wertsch Author of the book Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress 47
Bruce Willis Actor 48 49
Reese Witherspoon Actress 50
Danny! Rapper/producer, winner of MTVU's first 2007 "Best Music On Campus" contest 51
James Woods Actor 52

Marines

Neal Boortz Talk radio host, author 53
Pat Conroy Writer whose book/film "The Great Santini" is AbOUT military brats 54
Emmylou Harris Multiple Grammy award winning singer 55
Robert Hays Actor 56
Austin St. John Actor -- Power Ranger 57
John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas 58

Navy

Dennis C. Blair Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command 59
Bill Cosby Comedian/actor 60
Steven Culp Special Agent Clayton Webb in TV's JAG.61
Andy [...] Actor/comedian 62
Robert Duvall Academy Award winning Actor, also played Bull Meecham from "The Great Santini" 63
Kathie Lee Gifford Actress 64
Mark Hamill Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Trilogy 65
Marcia Gay Harden Actress66
John S. McCain, Jr. Commander in Chief, Pacific Command while son was prisoner of war. Father also a 4 star admiral. 67
John McCain (John S. McCain III) Senator 68
Jim Morrison Singer 69

Branch of service unknown

Tré Cool Drummer; father was a Vietnam helicopter pilot.70
Dan Hicks Singer71
Glen Jacobs (aka Kane) Wrestler 72
Jesse Jane Pornstar
Linda Johnson WSOP bracelet winner and owner of Cardplayer Magazine 73
Martin Lawrence Actor; his father left the military when Martin was aged 7 74
Cornell Haynes Jr. (aka Nelly) Singer; lived in Spain while father was in the military before parents divorced 75
Amerie Mi Marie Rogers (aka Amerie) Singer; lived in Alaska, Seoul, Texas, Germany
Lil' Mo was raised primarily on Long Island, but moved about regularly as her family followed her father's military assignments. She lived in Texas and Atlanta, GA, and North Carolina before settling in Baltimore, MD

United Kingdom and Commonwealth

Tim Curry --- Actor, Singer and Composer (Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show) --- Father a Chaplain in the Royal Navy 76
Pete Doherty --- Singer and Songwriter, Father in British Army.77
Samantha Eggar --- Actress (Nominated for an Academy Award for her role in The Collector) --- Father in the British Army.78
Michael J. Fox --- Canadian Army Brat 79
Colin Greenwood --- Bassist for English rock band Radiohead --- Father in the British Army80
Myra Hindley --- Murderess (Moors murders) --- Father a paratrooper in the Royal Air Force81
Engelbert Humperdinck --- Singer --- Father in the British Army.82
Christopher Isherwood --- Novelist Father in British Army. 83
Elton John --- Singer, Father played the Trumpet in the Royal Air Force Band.
Christopher Lee --- Actor (Count Dracula and Count Dooku) --- Father in the Royal Rifle Corps.84
John Loder --- Early Film Actor --- Father a British Army General.85
Elizabeth Manley --- Silver Medalist at both the 1988 Olympics and 1988 World Championships --- Canadian Military 86
Charlotte Rampling--- Actor/Model/Singer --- Father an Olympian and British Army Officer.87
Rick Springfield -- Father was an Australian Army officer.
Tanita Tikaram -- Father British Army Officer

Other Countries

Xuxa --- "The Madonna from South America"/One of the "Richest Celebrities in the World." Brazilian Military 88
Marquis de La Fayette --- French General involved in American Revolution.89
Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko --- Professional Boxers/Vitali is the WBC World Champion --- Father was Soviet Air Force Colonel.
Vladimir Radmanović --- NBA Player --- Father in Yugoslav People's Army 90
Preity Zinta --- Indian Actress --- Father was in the Indian Army
Celina Jaitley --- Indian Actress --- Father was in the Indian Army 91
Neha Dhupia --- Indian Actress --- Father was in the Indian Army 92
Vinod Dham --- Venture Capitalist --- Father served in the Indian Army 93
Lara Dutta --- Indian Actress --- Father was a Wing Commander in the Indian Air Force 94
Amy Reid --- Pornographic Actress --- Father was in the German Army

Sushmita Sen- Miss Universe 1994/ actress-- Father was an officer in the Indian Air Force

External links

The American Overseas Schools Historical Society, includes a list of additional Military Brats.