Ricou Browning, Star of Creature From the Black Lagoon, Dies at 93

Ricou Browning, the last surviving actor behind the main Universal Monsters, has died. Browning, best known for playing the Gill-Man in 1954’s iconic Creature From the Black Lagoon, died earlier this week at his home in Southwest Ranches, Florida. He was 93.

Though no cause of death was given, Browning’s daughter Kim confirmed the news with The Hollywood Reporter after rumors swirled for much of the day Tuesday. “He had a fabulous career in the film industry, providing wonderful entertainment for past and future generations,” she told the trade.

Browning, who claimed he could hold his breath for minutes at a time, shot as the Gill-Man in the underwater scenes on Creature From the Black Lagoon, permanently etching him into the pantheon of Universal Monsters. He returned to play the character in all of the sequels, including Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us.

As it was far before the days of visual effects, Browning’s massive Creature suit would be burdensome to most, though he made it work with his own system in place.

“The lips of the suit sat about a half-inch from my lips, and I put the air hose in my mouth to breathe,” the actor Halloween Daily News in 2019. “I would hold my breath and go do the scene, and I’d have other safety people with other air hoses to give me air if I needed it. We had a signal. If I went totally limp, it meant I needed it. It worked out well, and we didn’t have any problems.”

In the same interview, Browning revealed he initially wasn’t going to return for the sequel, but was called after his replacement couldn’t make the suit work.

“Then [director Jack Arnold] said, ‘We hired somebody to be the Creature, and he can’t swim.’ It turned out to be a guy named John Lamb, who I knew well. He was an underwater cameraman, but he wasn’t a stunt guy. So I said, ‘Well I don’t have a suit.’ And he said, ‘We’ll cut one down to fit you.’ I said, ‘Okay,’” he added. “I went to Marine Studios in St. Augustine, and sure enough, in about three days they had cut his suit down to fit me. And it did fit me, and I was able to play in the second movie, Revenge of the Creature. The third movie, they didn’t question me, I just did it.”

Browning is survived by his four children, Ricou JJr., Renee, Kelly, and Kim, 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Fran.