In The Right Stuff, which NASA astronaut does Ed Harris portray?

Ed Harris portrays astronaut John Glenn in The Right Stuff.

The 1983 film dramatizes the United States military test-pilot program and the early years of Project Mercury. Harris plays Glenn, the Marine Corps pilot who became the first American to orbit Earth during the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission in 1962.

The film also depicts Chuck Yeager, played by Sam Shepard, and other Mercury Seven astronauts, including Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom and Scott Carpenter. Their achievements are set against the risks of experimental aircraft and the pressure of the Cold War space race.

The Right Stuff was written and directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted from Tom Wolfe’s 1979 nonfiction book. It received four Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing. Harris’s Glenn is one of several real historical figures portrayed in the film.