Eddie Egan

Eddie Egan
Egan (right) with Mike Connors in the Mannix episode "The Open Web", 1972
Born	Edward R. Egan (1930-01-03)January 3, 1930 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 4, 1995(1995-11-04) (aged 65) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Police detective, actor

Edward "Eddie" Egan (January 3, 1930 – November 4, 1995) was an American detective and film and television actor.

Life

Edward R. Egan was born in Queens, New York on January 3, 1930.^[1] Raised by his grandmother after being orphaned at age 12, he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1947.^[1] After his discharge, he played baseball for the New York Yankees' Triple-A club in 1950, but he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War.^[1] After his second discharge, he joined the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 1955.^[1]

His career with the NYPD spanned 15 years, and he was reported to have been responsible for more than 8,000 arrests.^[1] Egan's most famous exploits were the subject of a book and movie, both titled The French Connection. Egan, his partner Sonny Grosso, and other NYPD detectives broke up an organized crime ring in 1961 seizing 112 pounds of heroin, a record amount at the time. The investigation was the subject of a book by Robin Moore and the subsequent motion picture released in 1971.

The movie was highly fictionalized and very successful. The character based on Egan, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, was played by Gene Hackman who won an Academy Award for his performance (the film also won Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Editing). The character was called "Popeye" because that was Egan's nickname in real life. Egan played a role in the movie as Hackman's supervisor, Simonson. Egan and Grosso were also technical advisors. Hackman reprised this role in the sequel film French Connection II in 1975, which depicts a fictionalized story.

In 1986, a network television series Popeye Doyle was planned based on the fictionalized character from the two films with Ed O'Neill playing the title character.^[2] While the series was never produced, the pilot was broadcast as an NBC-TV Movie, and has been shown in syndication. In 1973 another film, called Badge 373, with Robert Duvall playing the role of Egan, was released detailing Egan's career.

After retiring from the NYPD, Egan became a full-time actor, usually playing law enforcement figures. He portrayed the head of the NYPD's Son of Sam task force in the 1985 movie Out of the Darkness,^[3] and throughout his career he played roles in more than 20 movies and television series.^[4] He moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1984.^[5]

Death

Egan died of colon cancer at the University of Miami Cancer Center, at the age of 65. He was engaged to Cheryl Kyle-Little at the time.^[1]

Filmography

References

External links

• Eddie Egan on IMDb
• Eddie "Popeye" Egan at Find a Grave