Fred Rexer
Encyclopedia
Fred Rexer, aka Fred L. Rexer and Fred Rexer, Jr., is a U.S. Army Vietnam combat veteran and Hollywood actor and screenwriter. He is best known as the military advisor for Apocalypse Now
and as Spiritual Advisor for Conan the Barbarian. In the opening scenes of Red Dawn
, he played the paratroop commander, and later the knife-wielding Russian tank commander gunned down at the service station. Fred Rexer has contributed numerous passages to the screenplay of that film and other films written or directed by John Milius
and Walter Hill. Milius has named Rexer as the real-life prototype of Captain Willard, the protagonist
of Apocalypse Now. (See Peter Cowie, The Apocalypse Now Book, Da Capo Press, 2001.)
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
and as Spiritual Advisor for Conan the Barbarian. In the opening scenes of Red Dawn
Red Dawn
Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
, he played the paratroop commander, and later the knife-wielding Russian tank commander gunned down at the service station. Fred Rexer has contributed numerous passages to the screenplay of that film and other films written or directed by John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
and Walter Hill. Milius has named Rexer as the real-life prototype of Captain Willard, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Apocalypse Now. (See Peter Cowie, The Apocalypse Now Book, Da Capo Press, 2001.)
Memorable quotations
- "The meek shall inherit the earth only when we're good and done with it, and with them."
- "I think of my gun as a tool for converting worthless human garbage into valuable fertilizer."
- "Dead men give no testimony. Let the bum's morgue photos speak for him while you're being no-billed by the grand jury."
Publications
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., Machine Guns: Silencers and Counterinsurgency Weapons, Illustrated Catalogs & Reference Guides Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Houston, TX, 1974
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., Submachine Guns, Calibre 9mm & .45 ACP, Ingram M10 , Houston, TX: Anubis Press, 1977
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., Dead or Alive: A Textbook on Self-Defense with the .45 Automatic, Houston, TX: IDHAC Publishing, 1977
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., Brass Knuckle Bible: A Manual of Concealed Weapons, Shreveport, LA: Delta Press, 1978
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., Bridge City, Shreveport, LA: Delta Press, 1978
- Fred L. Rexer, Jr., U.S.A. The Urban Survival Arsenal, Shreveport, LA: Delta Press, 1980
- Richard Dobbins, Evan Slawson, Deric Washburn, and Harry Kleiner (screenplay); John Milius, Fred Rexer (story), Extreme Prejudice, Pocket Books, New York NY, 1987, (ISBN 0-671-64016-X)
External links
- http://larvatus.livejournal.com/69236.html A personal tribute to Fred Rexer, explaining and quoting his tactical and cinematic contributions
- Gunship Mission by John A. Cash in Seven Firefights in Vietnam, Office of the Chief of Military History - an account that illustrates some of the methods used by the gunship fire teams, featuring Fred Rexer