Biography

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.