R.I.P. Ricou Browning, underwater director and original Gill-man from Creature From The Black Lagoon

Ricou Browning, an actor, director, and cinematographer with a very specific speciality, has died. Browning was best known for doing underwater stunts, most famously in 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon and its two sequels, where he played the eponymous monster (or “Gill-man”) during underwater scenes. The Hollywood Reporter says that Browning died at his home in Florida from natural causes, with his family saying in a statement that he “had a fabulous career in the film industry, providing wonderful entertainment for past and future generations.” Browning was 93.

Born in Florida in 1930, Browning studied physical education and worked with professional swimming instructor Newt Perry, who hired Browning at his underwater performance venue Weeki Wachee Springs. In the ‘50s, Browning took a film crew around the nearby Wakulla Springs area and did some on-camera swimming for them so they could visualize what it was like seeing someone underwater. The film they were developing was monster movie Creature From The Black Lagoon, and the crew later offered Browning the job of playing the Gill-man for the movie’s underwater scenes (another actor, Ben Chapman, played the creature on land).