As we head into the weekend, one that will be filled (for me at least!) with plenty of sun and water, I decided to leave you with a photo collection featuring the burly, brawny, beefy, Brylcreemed charms of one Richard Egan. We don't necessarily count Egan as one of our obsessive favorites, but he is an amiable enough presence in some movies we love (such as
A Summer Place, 1959, in which he was
Constance Ford's unhappy husband, and
The Big Cube, 1969) and worked alongside some of our favorite people such as Joan Crawford in
The Damned Don't Cry (1950),
Dana Wynter in
The View from Pompey's Head (1955),
Dorothy Malone in
Tension at Table Rock (1956),
Jeffrey Hunter in
Seven Cities of Gold (1957),
Joan Collins in
Esther and the King (1960) and
Barry Coe in
The 300 Spartans (1962.) He was also a costar of Jane Russell in
Underwater! (1955) and
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956) as well as Elvis Presely in
Love Me Tender (1956) among many other things. Egan lived a steady, quiet life with his only wife of nearly thirty years and their five children. He was taken prematurely by prostate cancer at age sixty-five in 1987 (at which time he was essaying a key role on the daytime soap
Capitol.) Take a look at some of these shots and see if he makes an impression on you!
He was, as you say, a dependable presence in movies and TV, through never a heartthrob for me. Do feel he was the best thing in "A Summer Place.". His and Dorothy Maguire's plot would have made a more interesting story. One thing that I always remember about Richard Egan was his distinctive baritone speaking voice. So sorry to hear that he died so young.
ReplyDeletePS. Is it me, or is he sporting a bit of a package in some of those photos? Or have I just been reading this blog too much and seeing them everywhere!
Oh, Roberta... I always select my photos with an eye toward maximum impact whenever possible! You're seeing what you're seeing. :-) I liked him in "A Summer Place" but Constance Ford remains my favorite aspect of the movie. What a horrible mother and major league bitch she was! LOL
ReplyDeletethank for this. many liked
ReplyDeleteNice tribute to Egan. He was certainly attractive in his way, a LOT of teeth!, and looked good with his shirt off but it's as if he was designed to be the good looking hunk of man who the forceful leading lady stars of the day could just steamroll right over without a backward look. While I wouldn't say his type is no longer around the vehicles that were constructed for those stars are few and far between nowadays.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice surprise, I always loved his voice. Great body too and never noticed before. "7 Cities of Gold" looks like a riot, and any one who was in "The Big Cube" contributed to one of my favorite campy movies. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteYes, Joel, I'd say he was more useful than amazing, but solid and reliable in any case. And I miss the female star vehicles you're referring to!
ReplyDeleteGingerguy, Egan had an unmistakable voice! So resonant and distinctive.
Thanks for commenting! I'll be back soon.
I always liked Mr. Egan's quiet but powerful presence. And yes that voice...espexially in intimate and tender moments. Personally, I found him very sexy.
ReplyDeleteUnknown, glad you liked this collection of pictures of Mr. Egan!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous, talented, and underrated. He came from an era where acting was so for the cheap seats, yet he had a powerful, calm demeanor that was often overlooked. Always, always love his work and felt he was way before his time even though he had a good degree of success during his time. The fact that he was such a good person, by all accounts, is just more to love. Thanks for posting! Happy to find this page through a search for him (Egan.)
ReplyDeleteLAFilmworks, thank you for taking time to comment. I'm glad you liked this series of pictures. It's true that he underplayed while many of his cohorts did the opposite. Someone had to keep things grounded...! ;-) Take care.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad we're still talking about Richard Egan in 2020. I agree he was gorgeous, talented and had a commanding presence. Watching his early films, his acting and his looks were very "modern" and ahead of his time. His work isn't dated at all unlike many of his contemporaries. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pekkala, I'm glad you liked this. I recently saw Egan in "Underwater!" We were supposed to be agog over Jane Russell (in 3-D originally!), but I had trouble looking beyond Richard. :-)
ReplyDeleteLol...I can understand that completely. I do have trouble looking beyond Richard Egan in basically any film he was in....even when Tyrone Power or Robert Mitchum were in the same scene or frame....now that's saying a lot...:-)
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