RICOU BROWNING
From the depths he came…
UNLEASHED IN 1954’S CREATURE From The Black Lagoon, the Gill-man was the final addition to Universal’s classic pantheon of horror icons. And Ricou Browning, who played the beast in the movie’s memorable underwater sequences, outlived co-fiends Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney Jr to become the last of the golden age horror stars.
Born in Fort Pierce, Florida, Browning had a lifelong affinity for the water, competing as a youth in local springboard competitions and emerging as a star of the USAF swimming team. After serving as a lifeguard at Wakulla Springs, he was recruited to help scout locations for Creature.
The filmmakers were so impressed by his swimming prowess that they offered him $600 a week to play the amphibious menace itself (Ben Chapman was the monster on land – to preserve a sense of mystery, neither performer was credited). With perilously limited visibility, the costume presented a challenge – “like swimming in an overcoat”, as Browning put it. But he compared it to wearing American football gear: “At first it’s bulky and cumbersome. But then, when you go in the game and you start to play, you don’t even know you have it on.”
The Gill-man was a hit and Browning encored in 1955’s Revenge Of The Creature
– Clint Eastwood’s big-screen debut – and 1956’s The Creature Walks Among Us, which abandoned the waning 3D gimmick of the first two movies.
He later forged a career as a second unit director, handling the impressive underwater sequences in Bond capers Thunderball and Never Say Never Again, and co-created popular kids’ TV series Flipper.
“I get fan mail almost every day,” he revealed in 1994, “and lots of calls from people who say, ‘We’re having a party. Could you bring your rubber suit over and jump in the pool and scare everybody?’”