I just added photos to our profile of Pappy Boyington, the hard-living World War II flying ace who shot down 28 Japanese planes and won the Medal of Honor.
Something about the photo looked familiar. I pondered it a while, chewing on a thumbnail… and then it arrived:
That’s the late John Belushi as ‘Wild Bill’ Kelso in the WWII comedy 1941.
Belushi’s character wasn’t based on Pappy Boyington, from what I can find online. But jeepers, what a match. Robert Conrad played Boyington in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep, but it looks like they should have cast Belushi instead.
More photos of Pappy Boyington »