Ricou Browning

Ricou Browning (born February 16, 1930[1]) is an American film director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer and stuntman. He is best known for his underwater stunt work, playing the Gill-man in Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us. Other actors portrayed the creature on land. He is also the only actor to have portrayed the creature more than once. He is the only surviving Gill-man actor, and the last surviving original actor to portray any of the Universal Classic Monsters. Browning also co-created Flipper.

Ricou Browning
Browning in 2019
Born (1930-02-16) February 16, 1930[1]
Fort Pierce, Florida, USA
OccupationFilm director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, stuntman
Years active1945–1986

Browning directed the underwater scenes in Thunderball (1966 Academy Award winner for special visual effects), underwater scenes in Caddyshack (1980). A Florida native, Browning was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2012.[2]

Early life
Ricou Browning at Spooky Empire in Orlando, Florida in March 2019

Browning was born in Fort Pierce, Florida. He was a major in physical education at Florida State University.[3]

Career

Browning started a career in water shows, moving on to produce shows. Browning worked at Wakulla Springs in the 1940s and learned to perform in underwater newsreels conceived by Newt Perry, who later took Browning along when he opened Weeki Wachee Springs.[2] He moved into movies in 1954, playing the underwater role of the Gill-man in Creature from the Black Lagoon (while Ben Chapman played the monster on land), a feat he repeated in two sequels. He continued in movie production and joined Ivan Tors' studios in Florida, where he co-wrote and co-produced the 1963 MGM film Flipper (about an intelligent bottlenose dolphin) and continued writing for the subsequent Flipper television series that debuted in 1964. He directed the underwater sequences in Hello Down There (1969) and directed the family movie Salty (1973) and the cult film Mr. No Legs (1978). He also worked as second unit director, stunt coordinator and underwater sequence director on a number of features, including Thunderball (1965), Around the World Under the Sea (1966), Island of the Lost (1967), Caddyshack (1980) and Never Say Never Again (1983).[2]

Personal life

He has a son, Ricou Browning, Jr., who, like his father, was also a marine coordinator, actor, and stuntman.[4]

Filmography

As performer

As director

References
  1. A Silver Springs story: Ricou Browning was the Creature, Star-Banner
  2. Ricou Browning Florida Artists Hall of Fame
  3. "Wet and Wild: Ricou Browning Will Always Be The Creature from the Black Lagoon". People.com. April 4, 1994. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  4. "Marine Coordinator". Marine Coordinator. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
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