When we first meet gunnery sergeant Hartman, played by R. Lee Ermey in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 Vietnam epic Full Metal Jacket, he's introducing recruits to the Marine Corps boot camp.

"I am gunnery sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be 'sir.' Do you maggots understand that?" he begins, launching into a nearly six minutes of rapid-fire dialogue.

Gunnery Sergeant. Hartman (R.Lee Ermey) incensed at a transgression of barrack room rules in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.

The famous scene is a brutal verbal assault, insults flying as fast as machine gun bullets. Many lines from it have become iconic, such as "What is your major malfunction?" It became so celebrated that other shows and movies, including The Simpsons often paid homage to it.

Ermey died on Sunday at 74, from pneumonia-related complications. His furious performance in Full Metal Jacket, much of which was improvised, earned him a Golden Globe nomination and launched his career, but it almost never occurred. He wasn't even an actor at the time.