Trivia

Was forced to file bankruptcy in early 1994 due to a $1.7-million debt, and eventually he lost his home in Brentwood, CA, and most of his possessions. He later moved into the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Center in Woodland Hills, a retirement home for actors and other motion picture people, where he stayed for the next three years until his death in June of 1997.

He was a mail courier on the 20th Century-Fox studio lot in 1943 when a casting agent spotted him and signed him for a part in Guadalcanal Diary (1943).

His wife, Antoinette, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease shortly before his death.

Although Jaeckel was battling cancer, director Joe Dante had originally hoped that he would be able to return to work and provide the voice of Link Static for his project Pequeños guerreros (1998). This film reunited Jaeckel's fellow cast members from Doce del patíbulo (1967). Jaeckel died from his cancer before shooting began.

According to Robert Osborne in "Academy Awards 1972 Oscar Annual," Jaeckel got the role in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971) when Paul Newman ran into him at Malibu Beach. Jaeckel was relaxing and swimming with his family and friends, and as Newman watched him playing with his own children, he thought that Jaeckel would be just right to play his brother in the film. Newman subsequently stood up for casting Jaeckel at later conferences with studio management, and he got the part, and an Oscar nomination.

In November of 1948, while he and his wife were in San Francisco, his oldest son, then 14 months old, fell into the family swimming pool and nearly drowned. His uncle, John Marches, happened to come into the backyard at that moment to find and save the baby.

Met actor Robert Blake while they were filming Pueblo sin compasión (1961) and they became good friends, remaining close until the day Jaeckel died. Blake once said that Jaeckel was the only guy he had ever met who was "crazier than me".

Jaeckel was a long-time health and exercise aficionado as well as a non-smoker. He was also an avid surfer, and although fair-skinned, spent much of his free time surfing without wearing a T-shirt. He had many acquaintances in the L.A. surfing community, who speculated where overexposure to the sun occurred where he simply let his skin cancer go untreated for far too long which was the contributing factor in his death.

His son, Barry, is a former touring PGA golfer.

Jaeckel had the distinction of being cast as an "irregular" supporting player in films alongside the likes of Paul Newman, Burt Lancaster and Glenn Ford.

Has been in three different projects about outlaw Billy the Kid. In 1954 he played Billy the Kid in an episode of Stories of the Century (1954). In 1970 he appeared in Chisum, rey de Oeste (1970) as Jess Evans, a former sidekick of Billy the Kid, and then in 1973 he appeared in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) as Sheriff Kip McKinney, who assists in capturing the infamous outlaw.

In the early 1970s he and his wife owned a German Shepherd named "Cruncher". Cruncher was the name of a character he played on the Mike Connors series En la cuerda floja (1959).

A favorite of director Robert Aldrich, Jaeckel appeared in seven of his films throughout his career, including Aldrich's first feature Big Leaguer (1953) in 1953 and his last ...All the Marbles (1981) in 1981.

Father of Richard Jaeckel Jr..

As of 2021, he does not have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Richard Jaeckel was only 17 when he made Wing and a Prayer, Story of Carrier X and Guadalcanal Diary. A very natural actor, giving a mature performances considering he hadn't been a child actor.