- For other people with this name, see Richard Egan
Richard Egan may refer to:*Richard Egan , American film actor*Richard Egan , American businessman, co-founder of EMC Corporation, one-time Ambassador to Ireland*Richard Egan , American ragtime composer and performer...
.
Richard Egan (July 29, 1921 - July 20, 1987) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. In some films he is credited as
Richard Eagan.
Career
Born in
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Egan served in the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
as a
judois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
instructor during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A graduate of the
University of San FranciscoThe University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
(B.A.) and
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(M.A.), he studied and taught at
Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in
EvanstonEvanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
,
IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, for a time. Having studied theatre, he took a bit role in the 1949 Hollywood film
The Story of Molly X.
This start would lead to his signing of a contract with
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
where his talent, rugged physique and good looks made him a favorite and respected leading man.
In 1956, he starred as
Elvis Presley'sElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
older brother in Presley's first film,
Love Me TenderLove Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white CinemaScope motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with...
, and in 1959 was the male lead opposite
Dorothy McGuireDorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
in
A Summer PlaceA Summer Place is a 1959 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sloan Wilson. It was directed by Delmer Daves and stars Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee...
. In 1960, Egan appeared with
Jane WymanJane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
and
Hayley MillsHayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
in
PollyannaPollyanna is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring child actress Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden and Richard Egan in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. Based upon the novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter, the film was written and directed by David...
. He also starred with
Joan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
in
Esther and the KingEsther and the King is a 1960 U.S.A. / Italian film direction, written, and produced by Raoul Walsh. It is a religious epic. It was produced at 20th Century Fox/ Raoul Walsh Productions, and was released by 20th Century Fox. Joan Collins stars as Esther in this melodramatic, routine Biblical story...
. Other noteworthy films include
Undercover Girl (1950),
Split Second (1953),
A View from Pompey's Head (1955),
Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1957),
Voice In The Mirror, about the man who started
Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
,
The 300 SpartansThe 300 Spartans is a 1962 Cinemascope film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese...
(1962),
The Big CubeThe Big Cube is a 1969 Warner Bros. thriller directed by Tito Davison and starring Lana Turner, Karin Mossberg , George Chakiris, Dan O'Herlihy and Richard Egan; it was one of Lana Turner's last movies...
(1969), and
Moonfire (1970).
Egan was
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
's first choice to narrate
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, because of his distinctive voice. However, contractual issues got in the way, and Serling narrated instead, rather than select any other actor than his first choice.
During the decade of the 1960s, Egan worked extensively in television, starring in the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
westernThe Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
tic series,
EmpireEmpire, an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s ranch in New Mexico, starred Richard Egan , Terry Moore , and Ryan O'Neal . It ran on NBC for a season between September 25, 1962, and May 14, 1963...
, which aired from September 25, 1962 to December 31, 1963. In the shortened second season, the program was renamed
RedigoRedigo is a 15-week Western dramatic series, set on a New Mexico ranch during the early 1960s, which aired over NBC from September 24 to December 31, 1963. It starred Richard Egan as ranch owner Jim Redigo, Roger Davis as Mike the ranch hand, and Elena Verdugo as Gerry...
after Egan's character, ranch manager Jim Redigo.
After his series ended, he made guest appearances on other television shows and acted in several motion pictures for the big screen plus in films made specifically for television. In 1982 he joined the cast for the new daytime television political drama
CapitolCapitol is an American soap opera which aired on CBS from March 29, 1982 to March 20, 1987 for 1,270 episodes. As its name suggests, the storyline usually revolved around the political intrigues of people whose lives intertwined in Washington D.C....
.
Personal
Egan was a devout Roman Catholic, with a brother who was a Jesuit priest. He met his wife, the former
Patricia HardyPatricia Hardy was an American television and film actress whose career was most active during the 1950s. She was the wife of actor Richard Egan.Hardy, who was originally from Brooklyn, New York, was of Irish descent...
, in 1956. The couple married in June 1958 and remained together for almost thirty years until his death. They had five children, including son Rich Egan, the founder of
Vagrant RecordsVagrant Records is an indie rock label based in Los Angeles, California and is home to such artists as The Hold Steady, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Active Child, PJ Harvey, Reptar, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Thrice, James Vincent McMorrow, Placebo, and many...
, daughter
Maureen EganMaureen Egan is a writer/director who has directed several music videos, including the MTV2 Award-winning "Screaming Infidelities" for Dashboard Confessional.Her parents were the late actors Richard Egan and Patricia Hardy.-References:...
, a writer and director, as well as Patricia, Kathleen and Colleen.
Egan was respected within the acting community for having helped a number of young actors get their first break in the film industry. One of these young actors was
Ryan O'NealCharles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
. He worked out at the same gym as Egan, who got him credited work in four episodes of
Empire.
Richard Egan died in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, on July 20, 1987, of
prostate cancerProstate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, nine days before his 66th birthday, and was buried in Culver City's
Holy Cross CemeteryHoly Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....
.
Partial filmography
- The Damned Don't Cry (1950)
- Bright Victory
Bright Victory is a 1951 film, adapted by Robert Buckner from Baynard Kendrick's novel Lights Out. It was directed by Mark Robson, and it stars Arthur Kennedy, Peggy Dow, Julia Adams, James Edwards, Will Geer, Nana Bryant, Jim Backus, and Rock Hudson....
(1951)
- The Golden Horde
The Golden Horde is a 1951 Historical Adventure film directed by George Sherman and starring Ann Blyth and David Farrar. Many of the exterior scenes were shot in Death Valley National Park, California, USA.-Plot synopsis:...
(1951)
- One Minute to Zero
One Minute to Zero is a romantic war film starring Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth set during the Korean War. Victor Young's score includes the first recording of the love theme "When I Fall In Love" , which became a popular hit song recorded by a variety of artists.-Plot:Just prior to the North...
(1952)
- The Devil Makes Three
The Devil Makes Three is a 1952 thriller film set in post-World War II Germany, starring Pier Angeli, Gene Kelly and Richard Egan.-Plot:...
(1952)
- Blackbeard the Pirate
Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film made by RKO. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.-Plot:...
(1952)
- Split Second
Split Second is a 1953 thriller film about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the grave danger they are in. It starred Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, and Keith Andes.-Plot:...
(1953)
- Wicked Woman
Wicked Woman is a 1953 low-budget film noir starred "bad-girl" Beverly Michaels. Co-starring in the film were Richard Egan, Percy Helton, and Evelyn Scott....
(1953)
- Gog
Gog is a 1954 science fiction film directed by Herbert L. Strock and released in 1954 by United Artists. It is notable for having been shot in color, widescreen and 3-D...
(1954)
- Demetrius and the Gladiators
Demetrius and the Gladiators is a 1954 sword and sandal drama film and a sequel to The Robe. It was made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Delmer Daves and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne based on characters created by Lloyd C...
(1954)
- Khyber Patrol (1954)
- Violent Saturday
Violent Saturday is a 1955 American crime drama directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Victor Mature, Lee Marvin, Richard Egan and Stephen McNally. The film, set in a mining town, depicts the planning of a bank robbery as the nexus in the personal lives of several townspeople.Prominent actors...
(1955)
- Untamed (1955)
- The View from Pompey's Head
The View from Pompey's Head is a novel by Hamilton Basso which spent 40 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List after it was published by Doubleday in 1954....
(1955)
- Seven Cities of Gold
Seven Cities Of Gold is a 1955 historical adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Anthony Quinn, Richard Egan and Michael Rennie. It tells the story of the 18th. Century Franciscan priest, Father Junípero Serra and the founding of the first missions in what is now present day...
(1955)
- Underwater!
Underwater! is a 1955 adventure film directed by John Sturges and starring Jane Russell and Richard Egan.-Plot synopsis:Johnny and his wife Theresa , along with mercenary Dominic Quesada , priest Father Cannon and Gloria , the boat owner, go searching for sunken treasure in the Caribbean...
(1955)
- Tension at Table Rock
Tension at Table Rock is a 1956 Technicolor Drama directed by Charles Marquis Warren, starring Richard Egan and Dorothy Malone. Wes Tancred is publicly vilified after killing a famous gunslinger who was a public hero.-Cast:...
(1956)
- The Revolt of Mamie Stover
The Revolt of Mamie Stover is a romantic drama film made by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Sydney Boehm based on the novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie.The film stars Jane Russell and Richard Egan...
(1956)
- Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white CinemaScope motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with...
(1956)
- Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is a 1957 film directed by Arnold Laven. It stars Richard Egan and Jan Sterling.The film is a story of crime on New York's waterfront. It is based on the book "The Man Who Rocked the Boat," an autobiography by William Keating, played by Egan in the film...
(1957)
- The Hunters (1958)
- These Thousand Hills
These Thousand Hills is a 1959 Western film starring Patricia Owens, Alfred Hayes and Richard Egan, and based on the novel of the same name by A. B. Guthrie Jr.....
(1959)
- A Summer Place
A Summer Place is a 1959 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sloan Wilson. It was directed by Delmer Daves and stars Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee...
(1959)
- Pollyanna
Pollyanna is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring child actress Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden and Richard Egan in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. Based upon the novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter, the film was written and directed by David...
(1960) - Doctor Edmond Chilton
- Esther and the King
Esther and the King is a 1960 U.S.A. / Italian film direction, written, and produced by Raoul Walsh. It is a religious epic. It was produced at 20th Century Fox/ Raoul Walsh Productions, and was released by 20th Century Fox. Joan Collins stars as Esther in this melodramatic, routine Biblical story...
(1960)
- The 300 Spartans
The 300 Spartans is a 1962 Cinemascope film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese...
(1962)
- The Big Cube
The Big Cube is a 1969 Warner Bros. thriller directed by Tito Davison and starring Lana Turner, Karin Mossberg , George Chakiris, Dan O'Herlihy and Richard Egan; it was one of Lana Turner's last movies...
(1969)
- Moonfire (1970)
External links