After beginning his career in 1949, he subsequently won a Golden Globe Award for his performances in the films The Glory Brigade (1953) and The Kid from Left Field (1953).

(1955), Seven Cities of Gold (1955), The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), Love Me Tender (1956), Tension at Table Rock (1956), A Summer Place (1959), Esther and the King (1960) and The 300 Spartans (1962).

In 1943 he left to serve in the United States Army as a judo and knife fighting instructor during World War II.

"[1] When Egan returned, he went back to school to earn a master's degree in theater history from Stanford University, with the help of the G.I.

[1] While at Northwestern, he appeared in thirty campus stage productions and was eventually spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout, Solly Bioano, who encouraged him to try Hollywood.

He had small roles in The Good Humor Man (1950) starring Jack Carson, at Columbia; The Damned Don't Cry (1950) (as Joan Crawford's husband) and Return of the Frontiersman (1950) with Gordon MacRae and Rory Calhoun, both at Warner Bros.; and The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) with Evelyn Keyes, at Columbia.

[5] There he had supporting roles in Wyoming Mail (1950), Undercover Girl (1950),[6] Kansas Raiders (1950); Highway 301 (1950); Bright Victory (1951); and Up Front (1951).

Egan supported Victor Mature in The Glory Brigade (1953), a war movie at 20th Century Fox, then had a small part in The Kid from Left Field (1953).

On TV he did "Go Away a Winner" for Schlitz Playhouse (1954), then had another lead in a low budget movie, Gog (1954), produced by Ivan Tors.

[9] In July 1954, Darryl F. Zanuck of Fox offered Egan a seven-year contract at two films a year.

[3] Egan was billed third in Fox's Untamed (1955), supporting Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward, taking a role that Victor Mature turned down.

[13] He starred in The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), opposite Jane Russell again (playing a part turned down by Marilyn Monroe).

However this was attributed to the third-billed actor who played Egan's character's brother, Elvis Presley, whose first film it was.

[15] Egan signed a contract with Universal where he made Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957), and Voice in the Mirror (1958).

Egan had another hit with A Summer Place (1959) at Warner Bros. which co-starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue.

"[1] Egan had the lead in some low-budget films, Chubasco (1968) and The Destructors (1969) and starred opposite Lana Turner in The Big Cube (1969).

He had the lead in the TV movie The Day of the Wolves (1971) and a support part in Left Hand of Gemini (1972) and Shootout in a One Dog Town (1974).

Egan began guest starring on TV series such as The Streets of San Francisco, Matt Helm, The Quest, and Police Story.

[20] The couple had four daughters — Patricia, Kathleen, Colleen, and Maureen, a writer and music video director[20] — as well as a son, Richard Egan Jr., who founded Vagrant Records.