Trivia

Won a heavyweight boxing title during his Army military service in WWII.

Was an avid card player. Clint Eastwood, Clint Walker and Jack Elam were a few of his more famous regular card-playing buddies back in the 1950s.

Was a track and field star and held the discus record at his Inglewood (California) high school. Received a scholarship to play football at USC (defensive and offensive tackle) and was considered one of the country's biggest lineman at the time.

His father Robert Megowan was a baker and mother Lelia Dale Megowan was a film negative cutter at Pathe Studios. Don had two older sisters, Doris and Eileen. Father Robert was 6'7" (same as Don) but mother Lelia was only 5'2". All three of their children grew to be over 6' tall.

Suffered major injuries in a 1963 car accident. His car hit a light pole and he was thrown halfway through, pinned by the windshield and nearly "scalped." Because of his huge size, paramedics needed a crane to pull him out of the car. In Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966), his head was shaved to emphasize the nasty scar from the accident.

His mother was a motion picture film cutter.

According to an interview article on him for "Classic Images" film magazine, February 2013, by Tom Weaver, his daughter Vikki claimed that he once owned several exotic animals: an ocelot, monkey and an Italian alligator named Juliet.

Cousin of Foster Brooks.

To supplement his income, he managed apartment buildings in the North Hollywood area. He also was a restaurateur, owning and operating Johnny's Bar and Grill on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. After that closed he opened Megowan's Clubhouse, which specialized in hamburgers and lasagna, also in North Hollywood. This he owned until his death in 1981.

Although a huge--6'6"--solidly built and imposing man who resembled Clint Walker, those who knew him say he was a "gentle giant" and not at all like the characters he played.

His former wife Bette was a stewardess when they met. They had two children, Vikki and Greg. He married his second wife, Alva Lacy May, in the late 1970s. She appeared in a few movies as Alva Megowan.

He continued the tradition of playing a much bigger Creature from the Black Lagoon out of the water with his part in "The Creature Walks Among Us". At 6'1", Ricou Browning, a professional swimmer, wasn't imposing enough on land; Megowan and his predecessors Ben Chapman and Tom Hennesey, were all at least 6'5".