Actor. He is best remembered for his many leading roles in action – adventures movies and made-for-television movies. Born Richard Egan in San Francisco, California, he was a student at the University of San Francisco when Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, and he immediately dropped out to enlist in the US Army. During World War II, he served as an officer in the Army, where he would only admit that he taught soldiers judo and bayonet and knife fighting. He would never talk about what else he did in the war. After the war, he returned to the University of San Francisco and earned a bachelor's degree. He used the GI Bill to earn a Master's Degree from Stanford University and became a teacher for several years at Northwestern University before moving on to Hollywood. His first role was uncredited, playing a police detective in the movie "The Story of Molly X" (1949). From there, he moved on to more solid roles. While handsome, he was considered too serious and humorless to be credible in anything other than action-adventure movies and limited his roles to that form. He performed well in such action films as "Flame of Araby" (1951), "The Battle of Apache Pass" (1952), "Blackbeard the Pirate" (1952), "Wicked Woman" (1953), "Khyber Patrol" (1954), "Seven Cities of Gold" (1955), and the Elvis Presley film, "Love Me Tender" (1956). He was well known for helping other struggling actors get their "big break" into the movies. He dated actress Susan Hayward for several months. On June 7, 1958, he married Patricia Hardy; they would have five children. Patricia was the only woman he would marry, and he remained faithful to her throughout their long marriage. He would continue to act in such films as "Esther and the King" (1960), "The 300 Spartans" (1962), and the television movie "Mission to Glory" (1977). His last role was in the television series, "Capitol" (1982). Richard Egan died of prostate cancer at age 65 in 1987.
Actor. He is best remembered for his many leading roles in action – adventures movies and made-for-television movies. Born Richard Egan in San Francisco, California, he was a student at the University of San Francisco when Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, and he immediately dropped out to enlist in the US Army. During World War II, he served as an officer in the Army, where he would only admit that he taught soldiers judo and bayonet and knife fighting. He would never talk about what else he did in the war. After the war, he returned to the University of San Francisco and earned a bachelor's degree. He used the GI Bill to earn a Master's Degree from Stanford University and became a teacher for several years at Northwestern University before moving on to Hollywood. His first role was uncredited, playing a police detective in the movie "The Story of Molly X" (1949). From there, he moved on to more solid roles. While handsome, he was considered too serious and humorless to be credible in anything other than action-adventure movies and limited his roles to that form. He performed well in such action films as "Flame of Araby" (1951), "The Battle of Apache Pass" (1952), "Blackbeard the Pirate" (1952), "Wicked Woman" (1953), "Khyber Patrol" (1954), "Seven Cities of Gold" (1955), and the Elvis Presley film, "Love Me Tender" (1956). He was well known for helping other struggling actors get their "big break" into the movies. He dated actress Susan Hayward for several months. On June 7, 1958, he married Patricia Hardy; they would have five children. Patricia was the only woman he would marry, and he remained faithful to her throughout their long marriage. He would continue to act in such films as "Esther and the King" (1960), "The 300 Spartans" (1962), and the television movie "Mission to Glory" (1977). His last role was in the television series, "Capitol" (1982). Richard Egan died of prostate cancer at age 65 in 1987.
Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson
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