John Milius

This is not the first time we've profiled someone who was a real-life basis for a character in "The Big Lebowski". One of the inspirations for The Dude himself was Michael Lerner, whose profile is linked below. Today, we're talking about John Milius, friend of the Coen Brothers and a partial prototype for Walter Sobchak.

You remember Walter, don't you? The Dude's Jewish friend who doesn't roll on Shabbos? The Vietnam-obsessed lunatic who draws a gun when someone breaks a rule in a bowling alley? "You didn't think I was rolling out of here naked!" Yeah, about that...

John Milius had a long, productive career in Hollywood. He co-wrote "Apocalypse Now" and directed those 80s camp classics, "Conan the Barbarian" and "Red Dawn". He was also all over the map politically, describing himself as a "Zen anarchist" and "Maoist"... as well as a "right-wing extremist" and even a "Nazi". Considering he served as a director of the NRA, we'll put more stock in those last two.

One big difference: Walter converted to Judaism. Milius was born Jewish.

You know, we liked it better when we thought Walter was entirely fictional...