Known for movies
Universal Newsreel (1945)
as Himself
Universal Newsreel (1945)
as Himself
Universal Newsreel (1945)
as Himself
Universal Newsreel (1945)
as Himself
Short Info
| Died | April 5, 1964, Washington, D.C., United States |
| Spouse | Jean MacArthur, Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brook MacArthur |
| Mark | Corncob pipe |
| Fact | Grand Cross Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau, the official military and civil order of the Netherlands. It is the highest honor a foreigner can receive. |
Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the third of six children born to Arthur MacArthur, Jr., a U.S. Army captain, and his wife, Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur. He had four brothers and one sister. MacArthur was of Scottish and English descent. His mother was from a prominent Virginia family, and his father was from a wealthy Irish-American family.
MacArthur was educated at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated first in his class in 1903. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
MacArthur’s military career began in 1904, when he was assigned to the Philippines as a member of the U.S. Army’s Philippine Constabulary. He served in this capacity for three years, seeing action in the Philippine-American War and the Moro Rebellion. In 1907, he was assigned to Japan as a military observer.
During World War I, MacArthur served in France as chief of staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. He rose to the rank of brigadier general and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in the war.
After the war, MacArthur served as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 1922, he was assigned to the Philippines as commander of the Philippine Department. He served in this capacity for four years, during which time he oversaw the construction of several military bases and roads in the Philippines.
In 1926, MacArthur was appointed chief of staff of the U.S. Army. He served in this position for four years, during which time he oversaw the modernization of the U.S. Army.
In 1930, MacArthur was appointed commander of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. He served in this position for six years, during which time he oversaw the defense of the Philippines against Japanese aggression.
In 1936, MacArthur was appointed commander of the U.S. Army in the Far East. He served in this position for four years, during which time he oversaw the defense of the Philippines against Japanese aggression.
In 1940, MacArthur was appointed commander of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. He served in this position for two years, during which time he oversaw the defense of the Philippines against Japanese aggression.
In 1942, MacArthur was appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Area. He served in this position for three years, during which time he oversaw the Allied campaign in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the war.
In 1945, MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific Theater. He served in this position for two years, during which time he oversaw the Allied campaign in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the war.
In 1947, MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of the Allied forces in Japan. He served in this position for five years, during which time he oversaw the occupation of Japan following World War II.
In 1951, MacArthur was appointed commander of United Nations forces in Korea. He served in this position for two years, during which time he oversaw the UN campaign in the Korean War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the war.
In 1955, MacArthur retired from active military service and returned to the United States. He died on April 5, 1964, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., at the age of 84.
General Info
| Full Name | Douglas MacArthur |
| Died | April 5, 1964, Washington, D.C., United States |
| Height | 1.83 m |
| Profession | Military Officer |
| Education | United States Military Academy, TMI — The Episcopal School of Texas |
Family
| Spouse | Jean MacArthur, Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brook MacArthur |
| Children | Arthur MacArthur IV |
| Parents | Arthur MacArthur Jr., Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur |
| Siblings | Arthur MacArthur III, Malcolm MacArthur |
Accomplishments
| Awards | Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Legion of Honour, Combat Infantryman Badge, Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Me... |
Social profile links
Marks
| # | Marks / Signs |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aviator sunglasses |
| 2 | Corncob pipe |
Quotes
| # | Quote |
|---|---|
| 1 | [from radio broadcast to the US from the USS Missouri after accepting the Japanese surrender that ended World War II on September 2, 1945] Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death--the seas bear only commerce--men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace . . . And in reporting this to you, the people, I speak for the thousands of silent lips, forever stilled among the jungles and the beaches and in the deep waters of the Pacific which marked the way . . . A new era is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization. The destructiveness of the war potential, through progressive advances in scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the traditional concepts of war . . . We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door . . . My fellow countrymen, today I report to you that your sons and daughters have served you well and faithfully with the calm, deliberate, determined fighting spirit of the American soldier and sailor . . . Their spiritual strength and power has brought us through to victory. They are homeward bound - take care of them. |
| 2 | [March 9, 1948] I have been informed that petitions have been in Madison signed by many of my fellow citizens of Wisconsin, presenting my name to the electorate for consideration at the primary on April 6th. No man could fail to be profoundly stirred by such a public movement. I can say, with due humility, that I would be recreant to all my concepts of good citizenship were I to shrink because of the hazards and responsibilities involved from accepting any public duty to which I might be called by the American people. |
| 3 | Duty, honor, country... they teach us to be proud and unbending in failure but humble and gentle in success. |
| 4 | The powers in charge keep us in a perpetual state of fear, keep us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real. |
| 5 | I am closing my fifty-two years of military service. When I joined the army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barracks ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye. |
Facts
| # | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Around late 1930, he began to refer to himself exclusively by his last name, even conversationally. |
| 2 | Truman's removal of MacArthur caused the former's popularity to plummet and contributed to his decision to not seek re-election. To this day, Truman still has one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a President in office. |
| 3 | MacArthur rarely approached the front lines, which meant he had no conception of the horrific New Guinea terrain, which meant he thought his men were slackers when they were literally hung up on mountains and bunkers. On at least two occasions, commanders were sacked right at the point where they were about to succeed, and their replacements got all the credit. |
| 4 | MacArthur promoted himself aggressively to get a Medal of Honor, even going so far as to recommend himself for one after a mission. Quite a few people feel that his Medal of Honor should never have been awarded for "Defense of the Philippines" because the Philippines fell to Japan, and because he did not personally see or engage in combat during the battle, instead being evacuated as soon as possible. Quite a few people felt that he should not have been decorated at all after the fall of the Philippines, and would have preferred to see him court-martialed for incompetence. Eisenhower himself blocked efforts to be awarded his own Medal of Honor at the end of the war, precisely because he had not been in combat, and he regarded the Medal as something to be awarded only for actions under fire. MacArthur knew he was stepping onto very thin ice regarding the Medal, and at the award ceremony he made a comment about only accepting it in recognition for the valiant efforts of the men under his command. He's on record as stating, early in his career, that he was willing to sell his soul for the Medal of Honor. |
| 5 | Buried in the MacArthur memorial, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. |
| 6 | Former stepfather of Tanya Brooks. |
| 7 | Grand Cross Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau, the official military and civil order of the Netherlands. It is the highest honor a foreigner can receive. |
| 8 | Famous for smoking a corncob pipe and being very outspoken in the same manner as George S. Patton. |
| 9 | Father, with Jean MacArthur, of son Arthur MacArthur. |
| 10 | Only American officer to hold the rank of Field Marshal - as commander of the Phillippine armed forces. |
| 11 | A movie buff, MacArthur was known to attend the movies with his wife Jean MacArthur most evenings during his pre-war tenure as military commander of the Phillipines. |
| 12 | Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1962. |
| 13 | A classic "mama's boy", the married MacArthur was so afraid that his mother would learn of his affair with a woman while he was living with his wife and mother in the Philippines that he paid muckraking columnist Drew Pearson $15,000 to return letters the couple wrote each other. |
| 14 | Relieved as Supreme Allied Commander by US President Harry S. Truman during the Korean War after blasting White House policy. Fearing nuclear war with the USSR, Truman warned MacArthur against an incursion into Soviet-backed China, even after Chinese troops began pouring across the North Korean side of the 38th parallel. In a direct slap at Truman, MacRthur publicly criticized that policy. Truman, correctly, interpreted that as MacArthur challenging longtime US policy of civilian control over the military, and relieved him of command (declassified documents subsequently showed that MacArthur did indeed plan to drop at least 50 atomic bombs on China, a decision that only the President is allowed to make). When he returned home, he was met with massive adulation, epitomized by his famous "Old soldiers never die" address to Congress, which was interrupted by 30 ovations. (11 April 1951). |
| 15 | He and his father, Arthur MacArthur, are the first father and son to be awarded the Medal of Honor (MccArthur was awarded the medal for his service during World War II. His father was awarded the medal as a private in a Wisconsin regiment during the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Tennessee during the US CIvil War). In 2001 Theodore Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the medal; his son was awarded the medal for his efforts on D-Day. |
| 16 | Accepted the surrender of the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. MacArthur directed the occupation of Japan from 1945-1950, instituting such reforms as female suffrage, freedom of the press, workers' unionization rights, and ownership of land for peasants. |
| 17 | Graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. on June 11, 1903 and later returned to head the school (1919-22) before returning to his military career. |
| 18 | Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during WW2 as a General. |
| 19 | Pictured on a 6¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 26 January 1971 (91st anniversary of birth). |
| 20 | Army officer who retired with the rank General of the Army (5 stars). |
Movies
Self
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biography | 1994-2005 | TV Series documentary | Himself / Himself - Ambassador to Japan, 1957-1961 |
| Ambush Bay | 1966 | Himself (voice, uncredited) | |
| Rocky Marciano vs. Ezzard Charles | 1954 | TV Movie | Himself - Audience Member |
| See It Now | 1952 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| This Is Korea! | 1951 | Documentary | Himself (arrives by car) |
| Uppdrag i Korea | 1951 | Himself | |
| World's Middleweight Championship: Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Randy Turpin | 1951 | Himself - Audience Member | |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/XXIII | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/XVII | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/XVI | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/XIV | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/X | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Universal Newsreel | 1945/IX | Documentary short | Himself (as Gen. Douglas MacArthur) |
| Army Air Forces - Pacific | 1945 | Documentary short | Himself (uncredited) |
| Attack! Battle of New Britain | 1944 | Documentary | Himself (in New Guinea, just before attack on New Britain) |
| Hearst-International News Pictorial, No. 54 | 1916 | Documentary short | Himself |
Archive Footage
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Experience | 1999 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| The Century: America's Time | 1999 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| The 20th Century: A Moving Visual History | 1999 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| America's Five Star Heroes: Gods of War | 1998 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War | 1998 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Mighty Mo: The Many Lives of the USS Missouri | 1998 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Cold War | 1998 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| Our Time in Hell: The Korean War | 1997 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Contact | 1997 | Himself - Voice Through Space (uncredited) | |
| The Fifties | 1997 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| Biography | 1994-1996 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Enola Gay and the Atomic Bombing of Japan | 1995 | Himself (uncredited) | |
| The Last Days of World War II | 1995 | TV Movie documentary | Himself (unconfirmed, uncredited) |
| The Speeches of Douglas MacArthur | 1995 | Video documentary | Himself |
| Xie rou chang cheng | 1995 | TV Series | Himself (uncredited) |
| Truman | 1995 | TV Movie | Himself - Tickertape Parade (uncredited) |
| Hiroshima | 1995 | TV Movie | Himself |
| The Century of Warfare | 1994 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| The Great Depression | 1993 | TV Series documentary | Himself - Army Chief of Staff |
| Citizen Cohn | 1992 | TV Movie | Himself (Parade Saluter) (uncredited) |
| Korea: The Forgotten War | 1987 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| American Caesar | 1983 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| Vietnam: A Television History | 1983 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Seeing Red | 1983 | Documentary | Himself |
| De camisa vieja a chaqueta nueva | 1982 | Himself (uncredited) | |
| The Atomic Cafe | 1982 | Documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Time After Time | 1979 | Himself - Announcing 'I Shall Return' (uncredited) | |
| M*A*S*H | 1976-1978 | TV Series | Himself |
| All This and World War II | 1976 | Documentary | Himself |
| Brother Can You Spare a Dime | 1975 | Documentary | Himself (as General Douglas MacArthur) |
| The World at War | 1974 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself - Leader of America's Occupation of Japan / Himself - Allied Commander at Surrender Ceremony / Himself - Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area |
| No Substitute for Victory | 1970 | Documentary | Himself |
| The Extraordinary Seaman | 1969 | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Biography | 1963 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| The Clouded Dawn | 1962 | Documentary | Himself - Accepts Japanese Surrender, Presides at Ceremony |
| Turn of the Tide | 1962 | Short documentary | Himself |
| Men of Action | 1960 | TV Series documentary | Himself - Subject |
| The Big Picture | 1958 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Victory at Sea | 1952-1953 | TV Series documentary | Himself / Himself - Supreme Commander, Army Forces Pacific / Himself - U.S. Army Pacific General |
| See It Now | 1951-1952 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| The MacArthur Story | 1952 | Documentary short | Himself (as General Douglas MacArthur) |
| Näin syntyi nykypäivä... 1900-1950 | 1951 | Documentary | Himself |
| My Country 'Tis of Thee | 1950 | Documentary short | Himself (as General Douglas MacArthur) |
| Crusade in Europe | 1949 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| A Nation Is Born | 1947 | Documentary short | General Douglas MacArthur |
| The Stilwell Road | 1945 | Documentary | Himself - with Nimitz |
| Appointment in Tokyo | 1945 | Documentary | Himself |
| 18 Million Orphans | 1945 | Short | General MacArthur - Philippines Years (uncredited) |
| The Battle of China | 1944 | Documentary | Himself |
| The Autobiography of a 'Jeep' | 1943 | Documentary short | Himself - Riding in a Jeep (as General MacArthur) |
| Mr. Blabbermouth! | 1942 | Short | Himself (uncredited) |
| Holiday Inn | 1942 | General Douglas MacArthur (in montage) (uncredited) | |
| Never Surrender: The Ed Ramsey Story | 2016 | Documentary | U.S. Army General |
| Life's A Dive | 2014 | Documentary short | Himself |
| The Untold History of the United States | 2012 | TV Series documentary | Himself - Commander, U.S. Army Forces in the Far East |
| World War II in Colour | 2011 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Anzacs in the Face of War | 2011 | Documentary | Himself |
| WWII in HD | 2009 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| Landslide: A Portrait of President Herbert Hoover | 2009 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Apocalypse - La 2ème guerre mondiale | 2009 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| Battlefront | 2008 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | Video Game | Himself (uncredited) |
| ETV tokushû | 2007 | TV Series documentary | |
| War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death | 2007 | Documentary | Himself |
| Pacific: The Lost Evidence | 2006 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself |
| War Stories with Oliver North | 2002-2006 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| UFO: The Greatest Story Ever Denied | 2006 | Video documentary | Himself (as General Douglas MacArthur) |
| Ghosts of Bataan | 2005 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| The Great Raid | 2005 | Himself | |
| First Command | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| X Day: The Invasion of Japan | 2005 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Imelda | 2003 | Documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Yalta: Peace, Power and Betrayal | 2003 | TV Movie documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Price for Peace | 2002 | Documentary | Himself (as General Dougals MacArthur) |
| Gladiators of World War II | 2002 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Korean War Stories | 2001 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| The Korean War: Fire and Ice | 1999 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
Source: IMDb, Wikipedia
