Eddie Egan

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

Life
Egan's exploits were the subject of a book and movie, both titled The French Connection. Egan, his partner Sonny Grosso, and other New York City Police Department (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.

Egan's seizure is mentioned as a throwaway line in the 2007 feature American Gangster, but is portrayed as the very drugs taken out of the Evidence Room by corrupt police officers, cut and resold to the mobsters from whom it was seized.

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. 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 an actor, with small roles in 22 movies and television series. He retired and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1984.

Death
Egan died of colon cancer at the University of Miami Cancer Center, at the age of 65. He was survived by his fiancée, Cheryl Kyle-Little, and two half-sisters, Maureen Massett and Joan Massett.

Filmography

 * The French Connection (1971) as Simonson
 * Prime Cut (1972) as Jake
 * Mannix (1972 episode The Open Web) as Lt. Paul Haber
 * Night of Terror (1972 TV Movie) as Lt. Costin
 * McCloud (1973 episode Showdown at the End of the World) as Al Barber
 * Badge 373 (1973) as Lt. Scanlon
 * Let's Go for Broke (1974) as Det. Eddie Egan
 * Joe Forrester (1975–76) (Series Regular) as Sgt. Bernie Vincent
 * Police Story (Various episodes) as Malone, Sgt. Harry Volmer, Sean McLiam, Capt. R. E. Mead, Lt. Holtzman & Ron Butler
 * Baretta (1977 episode, Don't Kill the Sparrows) as Thompson
 * Police Woman (1975–77, various episodes) as Brock, Jack Ballard & Captain
 * David Cassidy: Man Undercover (1979 episode, Nightwork) as Detective Riggs
 * To Kill a Cop (1978 TV movie) as Chief Ed Palmer, and its subsequent series Eischied (1979–80) (Series Regular) as Chief Inspector Ed Parks
 * T. J. Hooker (1983 episode, Requiem for a Cop) as Max Silver
 * Murder Me, Murder You (1984 TV Movie) as Hennessey
 * Houston Knights (1987 episode, Mirrors)
 * Cold Steel (1987) as Lt. Hill