Edward R. Egan was born in Queens, New York City on January 3, 1930, to Irish-American parents.

[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] Among his exploits, Egan (along with 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 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).

[3] Hackman reprised this role in the sequel film French Connection II in 1975, which depicts a fictionalized story.

[8] Egan played Lt. Scanlon in the movie, once again (like in The French Connection) as an authority figure more or less sympathetic to the protagonist whose personality is based on himself.