Richard Egan

The Judo Instructor Who Ended Up at Fox

Richard Egan stood six feet, two inches tall, and his shoulders were so broad that Fox tailors struggled to fit him into the suit jackets of the day. He was no porcelain leading man. Before stepping onto a set, he served in the army during World War II as a judo and hand-to-hand combat instructor.

That physical toughness defined his entry into the industry.

In 1950, he signed his first major contract and began landing roles where his square jaw mattered more than his dialogue. But Egan was more than just a body. He had studied theater at Stanford and had a baritone voice that filled a room without his ever having to shout. His physical presence allowed him to dominate the frame without making any big acting efforts.

The Man Who Earned More Than Elvis

In 1956, the studio gave him the lead role in Love Me Tender. The film was meant to launch Elvis Presley's career, but Egan's name appeared first in the credits, ahead of the singer. He played Vance Reno with a calm steadiness that contrasted with the nerves of the King of Rock and Roll.

And the bet paid off at the box office.

A few years later, he starred in A Summer Place in 1959. The romantic drama was a box-office smash and brought in millions for Warner Bros., thanks to his chemistry with Dorothy McGuire. By then the actor was commanding fees over 100,000 dollars per project, a fortune by late-1950s standards.

From Thermopylae to the Small Screen

In 1962 he donned the red cape to lead soldiers in The 300 Spartans. They shot in Greece under a scorching sun, and Egan insisted on performing his own sword-fighting action scenes. The production spent much of its budget on 1,100 Greek navy soldiers who worked as extras in the battle scenes.

The industry changed too quickly for his profile.

The major studios began to lose their grip, so he turned to television. Between 1962 and 1963, he starred in the series Empire, playing the manager of a huge ranch in New Mexico. But audiences didn't respond as expected, and the network decided to cancel the show after just one season of thirty-two episodes.

He kept working steadily through the seventies and eighties. He appeared in episodes of The Streets of San Francisco and had a recurring role on the serial Capitol in 1982. He was never an award-winning actor, nor did he seek the approval of New York's intellectual critics.

Egan died in Los Angeles on July 20, 1987, from complications of prostate cancer. He was 65 years old. His remains rest at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City under a simple headstone that makes no mention of his film career.