- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRonald Eaton Giles
- Nickname
- Ronnie
- Height5′ 5½″ (1.66 m)
- Ronald Eaton Giles was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on November 13, 1947. The Son of blue collar parents Henry and Dolores (Arguello) Giles, he was the third of five children with an ethnic heritage of English-Irish, Native American, Mexican and Eastern European. Ronnie was raised in Lodi, NJ, from where he graduated High School in 1965.
He joined the US Army in October of 1965 and served in Vietnam (April 1966 to April 1967) as an Infantryman, Armored Personnel Carrier Driver, Ammo/Radio Man & Tunnel Rat with "A" Troop, 3/4 Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division, Cu Chi RVN. Upon discharge from the Army in 1968, Ronnie decided to pursue his life-long dream of becoming an actor.
He studied with William Hickey, Alice Spivak and Kathryn Sergava at the famed Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City, from 1968 to 1969. After working at a series of jobs, raising a family and pursuing his Acting career all at the same time over a 20-year period, he temporarily "retired" from Acting in 1988.
During that same year, Ronnie rejoined the military full-time, alternately serving with the New Jersey and Idaho Army National Guard. In 1996, he transferred to the full-time Army Reserve based out of Staten Island, New York. For the next ten years, he worked in a wide variety of assignments, including Human Resources Administration, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Transportation, Waste, Fraud and Abuse and Equal Opportunity.
Post 9-11, he simultaneously worked in assignments with local, state and federal Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Agencies. During his last six years of service, Ronnie was attached to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC, and attained the Rank of Sergeant First Class/E-7. After an Army career that spanned over four decades, he retired from the military, having reached his mandatory retirement age of 60 on November 13, 2007.
He has two grown children and a Grandson, and is now back to pursuing his acting and singing careers full-time. In his spare time, Ronnie works as a volunteer Tour Guide at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdell, NJ, and is in a wonderful relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Caroline. To keep himself "grounded-in-reality," he still hangs-out with many of the same friends he's had since his childhood.
He is a life-member of the 25th Inf. Div. Association, 3/4 Cavalry Association, VFW, Disabled American Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America (Little Ferry, NJ, Chapter 800), SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association. His hero is his Father Henry Eaton Giles, whose name appears on the wall of The Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
- IMDb mini biography by: Ronald E. Giles
- SpousesCynthia White(1985 - 1994) (divorced, 1 child)Mary Silberstein(1979 - 1985) (divorced, 1 child)Jessica Waugh(1972 - 1974) (divorced)
- Served in Vietnam (April 1966-April 1967) as a Tunnel Rat with 'A' Troop 3/4 Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division and held Top Secret Security Clearance (Post 9/11-full time Army Reserve). Finished Army Reserve career with the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2006 - retired from Active Duty in 2007.
- Started acting career in 1968, playing mostly character roles in OOB, Regional, Stock, Community & College theater productions.
- In spare time, works as a Volunteer Tour Guide & Oral Historian at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdell, New Jersey.
- Worked as Counter Intelligence Sergeant during last six years of Military service.
- Has appeared (to date) in 14 Feature films, and in over 50 Student/Short/Independent films produced by New York, Hoffstra, Wesleyan, Fairfield, Drexel and Columbia Universities, Ithica College Film School, The New York Film Academy, Brooklyn College/PBS, the NYC School Of Visual Arts, Sarah Lawrence College and the late John Steele in a variety of leading & supporting character roles.
- I've been in the Acting game off & on since 1968. I do it because I love it and because I enjoy it. Period. I'm still not exactly a household face or name, and I probably won't ever be nominated for an Oscar in this lifetime. So what. All I can say to any aspiring Actor is that I know what I know, which is as follows...Don't attempt to do Shakespeare, when you wouldn't even know how to play a piece of scenery. Get all the training and experience you can get by just DOING IT; meaning don't waste your career--your life--being a Classroom Actor. Be professional, be on time, know your lines, know when to enter and exit, and give your audience the best/most believable performance you can give. Above all, DON'T annoy your Director, Crew and fellow Actors by being a Diva or a Jackass; you're not THAT big yet, and you probably never will be. At the end of the day leave the job there, pick-up your marbles and go home. If you can get a paycheck out of it every now and then, you're doing better than 97% of your fellow Actors are.
- There were about five times when I was nearly killed in Vietnam. It's only by the Grace of God that I'm here today.
- After graduating High School in 1965, Vietnam was starting to heat-up. I was still 17, so I figured it would be at least a year or two before I got drafted. Wrong. I ended-up having to join the Army four months after graduation. I'd gotten into some trouble, and back in those days if you 'got into some trouble' you were given the choice of either joining the Army, or going to Jail. It was a no-brainer. I was a troubled kid heading down a bad road. Joining the Army probably saved my life.
- As a kid, I was extremely blessed to have had some very good role models. The two that stand out the most in my mind -- and in my heart -- are Paul Speziale (my high school English teacher) and Andy Voto (a Police Officer).
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