Harvey Walden IV (born December 21, 1966) is a former United States

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drill instructor A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors. Australia Austr ...

, author, actor and television host.

Military career

Walden was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and joined the U.S. Marine Corps at age 17. He served as a drill instructor at MCRD,

Parris Island, South Carolina Parris Island is a district of the city of Port Royal, South Carolina on an island of the same name. It became part of the city with the annexation of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on October 11, 2002. For statistical purposes, the ...

and retired from active duty in September 2007 at the rank of first sergeant.

Post-active duty

Walden is best known in the UK and US for his role as the expert fitness instructor on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's prime-time shows ''Fat Club'' and ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed t ...

''. In the 2007 season of ''Fit Club'', during a heated exchange, contestant

Dustin Diamond Dustin Neil Diamond (January 7, 1977 – February 1, 2021) was an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers throughout the ''Saved by the Bell'' franchise. Early life and family Diamond was born i ...

(the actor commonly known as Screech from

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in primetime, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United States ...

) challenged Walden to "physical combat". Walden responded to the challenge after Dustin refused to follow their diet and exercise plans. He is a father of two children; one boy, Harvey V, and one girl, Tiyauna Denise."Fit Club helps marine to pile on the pounds"
''The Sunday Times'', September 19, 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, Harvey 04 United States Marines Male actors from Chicago 1966 births African-American United States Navy personnel Living people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people