Ricou Browning, underwater cinematographer and stuntman who played Gill-Man in Creature from the Black Lagoon, has passed away at the age of 93. Browning played the character while underwater while on land, Gill-Man was played by Ben Chapman. Browning was the last living actor to have portrayed any of the classic Universal Monsters, the likes of which included Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, and so many more.

The 1954 film concerned a scientific expedition traveling to the Black Lagoon to uncover a fossil of an amphibious, missing link. While there, they find a specimen of the same species still very much alive and not at all pleased to have the humans disturbing his environment. Gill-Man also becomes quite taken with the sole female member of the team, Kay Lawerence (Julie Adams).

Browning would reprise his role in two additional sequels. The first, Revenge of the Creature, saw Gill-Man taken out of the jungle and into human civilization. Tom Hennesy played the creature while on land, while Clint Eastwood also made an early and uncredited appearance. The concluding chapter of the trilogy, The Creature Walks Among Us, saw Gill-Man badly burned by a fire and undergo a scientific procedure that allows him to breathe air. There, Don Megowan played the creature while on land.

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According to Bloody Disgusting, following his appearance as Gill-Man, Browning would go on to direct the underwater sequences of several different movies. Those included Thunderball (1965) and its remake Never Say Never Again (1983), Hello Down There (1969), and Caddyshack (1980). Besides that, Browning also directed the sea lion movie Salty (1973) and came up with the story for Flipper alongside Jack Cowden.

RELATED: Julie Adams, Creature from the Black Lagoon Star, Dies at 92

Legacy and Impact

A scene from The Shape of Water
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Following its release of Creature from the Black Lagoon, Gill-Man became one of the most iconic examples of the classic Universal Monsters, joining the ranks of Count Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. The creature's iconic appearance has inspired several different references and homages.

For instance, Gill-Man, along with all the monsters mentioned above appeared in The Monster Squad, an '80s cult classic where the world learned that the "Wolf Man's got nards." The Stan Winston Company did the creature effects for that movie. The creature himself was played by Academy Award-winning makeup artist and creature actor Tom Woodruff Jr., who's also played several different xenomorphs in various Alien movies.

While watching the movie as a child, director Guillermo del Toro thought that Gill-Man and Kay would end up together, being left quite shocked they didn't. "I decided I would someday have to correct that," he said, according to Variety. When plans to remake the 1954 classic fell through, del Toro instead made The Shape of Water, which won for Best Picture and Best Director. A frequent collaborator of del Toro’s, Doug Jones played the Amphiban Man/Asset. The film was also after Jones played a similar aquatic creature, Abe Sapien, in del Toro's two Hellboy movies.