Paul Newman
Paul Newman served in the US Navy in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. He was supposed to be on board the USS Bunker Hill when it was struck by a kamikaze pilot during the Battle of Okinawa. The captain of the plane Newman was stationed on had gotten sick the day before, and his crew was grounded at the last minute.
Allegedly, when Newman had to delve into a character’s trauma and emotional darkness, he would remember a moment from his service when he saw a friend “cut to pieces” by an airplane’s propellor.