Gene Evans

Overview

Born
July 11, 1922 · Holbrook, Arizona, USA
Died
April 1, 1998 · Jackson, Tennessee, USA (heart failure)
Birth name
Eugene Barton Evans
Height
6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)

Biography

Family

Spouses

Trivia

Served in the US Army during World War II, during which he received a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle and a Bronze Star for bravery.
Although he often played tough, snarling sergeants, gunslingers or cops, in reality Evans had very poor eyesight and could barely see without his glasses. Only in Donovan's Brain (1953) did his character, a scientist, get to wear glasses, and Evans at the time remarked that it was a revelation for him to be able to actually see the actors he was working with.
When director Samuel Fuller interviewed Evans for a part in The Steel Helmet (1951), the director had an M-1 carbine lying across his desk. Fuller threw the rifle at him and told him to "Rack it back," which he did. That was his audition, and Evans got the part.
Right after The Steel Helmet (1951), was finished, director Samuel Fuller was flush with money. During a Christmas party at his house, invited guest Evans was certain he'd get something valuable. He was initially disappointed, though, that all he was given was the steel helmet with a bullet hole in it from the movie. Decades later film historian Arthur Knight staged a retrospective of Fuller's work at USC. Evans was invited to attend as a surprise guest unknown to Fuller. The two old friends had not seen each other for ten or 15 years at that point. When Evans returned the helmet to Fuller, the director was very touched and so moved that he couldn't even talk.
Gene's parents owned a neighborhood grocery store in Colton, CA. called Evans Market.

Quotes

[on Samuel Fuller] Sammy was a funny guy to go around with. He could be in his own world; you know, in a fog about things other people found very normal.
[on Ace in the Hole (1951)] It was beautifully done, but did not do well because it turned people off.
I was never a movie star. A star's like the world champion, who fights once or twice a year because that's all he has to do. I was more like a club fighter, who had to fight at least once a month or he will starve to death.
When [The Steel Helmet (1951)] came out with me in the leading role, Billy Wilder bumped into me at the studio and said, "You did it, you son of a gun--I knew you could or I never would have recommended you".
There weren't a lot of redheaded people working in pictures. The cinematographers had a hell of a lot to say about things, and they liked guys with dark hair, eyes and skin because they photographed better in black-and-white . . . But one night a guy came to the theater and said, "I like your work and think I can get you work in pictures". I had a red beard and red hair, and Republic had just gone to Trucolor . . . they needed a guy for the part of Red in Under Colorado Skies (1947). It was a small part but I was paid $40 a day and I thought, "Where has this been all my life?"