Richard Egan (actor)

Richard Egan (July 29, 1921 – July 20, 1987) was an American actor.

He won a public-speaking competition in 1938 that helped fire his interest in performing.

He was supported by his brother who was a priest.

Egan was interested in drama and studied it while doing a BA at the University of San Francisco.

He left in 1943 and served in the United States Army as a judo and knife fighting instructor during World War II.

He served a year in the Philippines and was discharged with the rank of captain.

"The war had given me time to think", he later said, "and to decide what I really wanted to do. I think I had always been an actor in my mind, but now I was going to be one in public, too. Right out in front of everybody."

When Egan returned, he went back to school to earn a master's degree in theater history from Stanford University, with the help of the G.I. Bill.

From there, he went on to teach public speaking at Northwestern University.

While at Northwestern, he appeared in thirty campus stage productions and was eventually spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout, Solly Bioano, who encouraged him to try Hollywood.

Egan had a series of unsuccessful screen tests.

After beginning his career in 1949, he subsequently won a Golden Globe Award for his performances in the films The Glory Brigade (1953) and The Kid from Left Field (1953).

He eventually got a bit role in the 1949 Hollywood film The Story of Molly X, at Universal.

He had small roles in The Good Humor Man (1950) starring Jack Carson, at Columbia; The Damned Don't Cry (1950) (as Joan Crawford's husband) and Return of the Frontiersman (1950) with Gordon MacRae and Rory Calhoun, both at Warners; and The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) with Evelyn Keyes, at Columbia.

In June 1950 Egan signed a contract with Universal.

There he had supporting roles in Wyoming Mail (1950), Undercover Girl (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950); Highway 301 (1950); Bright Victory (1951); and Up Front (1951).

Egan later described these roles as saying things like "Charlie, go outside! The horses are ready."

He was billed third on the screen (but sixth on the posters) as a police investigator in Hollywood Story (1951), directed by William Castle, and billed fourth in the swashbuckler The Golden Horde (1951).

Egan was also in Flame of Araby (1951) and The Battle at Apache Pass (1952).

Edward Small cast him in a support role in Cripple Creek (1952).

Egan went to RKO for One Minute to Zero (1952) and MGM for The Devil Makes Three (1952), shot in Germany.

He did "Let George Do It" on TV for Hollywood Opening Night (1952).

Egan had support roles in RKO's Blackbeard the Pirate (1952) starring Robert Newton and Split Second (1953).

Egan supported Victor Mature in The Glory Brigade (1953), a war movie at 20th Century Fox, then had a small part in The Kid from Left Field (1953).

He did "Malaya Incident" and "Double Bet" for Ford Television Theatre(1953).

This led to Egan's first leading role, in Edward Small's Wicked Woman (1953).

Egan's career received a boost when a casting director, according to Egan, said "Take off your shirt!", and then cast him in a small role in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), as a gladiator who fights Victor Mature.

On TV he did "Go Away a Winner" for Schlitz Playhouse (1954), then had another lead in a low budget movie, Gog (1954), produced by Ivan Tors.

Small used him as a leading man again in Khyber Patrol (1954).

It led to Hedda Hopper declaring Egan to be one of the most promising actors of 1954.

In July 1954, Darryl F. Zanuck of Fox offered Egan a seven-year contract at two films a year.

He went on to star in many films such as Underwater! (1955), Seven Cities of Gold (1955), The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), Love Me Tender (1956), Tension at Table Rock (1956), A Summer Place (1959), Esther and the King (1960) and The 300 Spartans (1962).

Egan was born and raised in San Francisco, California of Irish descent, graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory.

He was used by RKO to costar with Jane Russell in Underwater! (1955).

Egan was billed third in Fox's Untamed (1955), supporting Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward, taking a role that Victor Mature turned down.

He was billed second in Fox's Violent Saturday (1955), directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Mature.

The film was a success.

Fox announced him for Women in the Woods with Sheree North and Rita Moreno but it was not made.

Egan was top-billed in Fox's Seven Cities of Gold (1955), an adventure film.

He had the star part in The View from Pompey's Head (1955), which was well received.