Born on April 4. 1914 as Richard Charles Potter Coogan in Short Hills, New Jersey, to William Gordon Coogan and Dorothea Havemeyer Potter. His father William was a former vice chairman of the National Democratic Finance Committee and was a close friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he urged to run for Governor of New York in 1928.

Richard's grandfather James J. Coogan ran for Mayor, and was the first Borough President of Manhattan after the consolidation of the five boroughs into the City of New York in 1898. He was married to Harriet Gardiner Coogan, a descendant of the Gardiners of Gardiner's Island. The Coogan family bought much real estate in the city before 1900, including the Polo Grounds, long the home of the New York Giants baseball team.  Much of the land in the vicinity of the Polo Grounds, from Coogan's Bluff to the Harlem River, was owned by the Coogans, who gave portions to the city, including the Speedway, a favorite place for trotting races at the turn of the century, which is now part of the Harlem River Drive.

Richard was one of ten children, six boys and four girls. "You have to do something to get attention." In this category he excelled. His pranks at home and at school became legendary - at least to the local townsfolk, after he completely drained a wealthy neighbor's fishpond, and gave the fish to his mother in a burst of filial generosity. At the age of eight an nine-month attack of rheumatic fever kept him an invalid for the next four years. He recalled that a visit from his high school football coach, proved the turning point in his illness and sped his recovery. He fully recovered and was a top athlete at Madison High School at Short Hills, N.J. and Morristown, N.J. Preparatory School when he was overcome by rheumatic fever again at the age of 17. That ended his athletic ambitions.

His parents and his teachers knew the only remedy was to give him another interest. Miss Hutchins, the school's drama coach, had a hunch that dramatics might be the answer. Given the lead in a one-act play, Dick caught fire. Following that, he worked out a kind of Martin-and-Lewis routine with his chum Bud Turner. The act went over big with their own high school crowd, and when they were invited to repeat it for the local Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, and Elks—and were paid to do it, too—Dick definitely caught the bug. 

His illness also prevented him from accepting an athletic scholarship to Brown University and an appointment to West Point. With two careers closed to him, Coogan turned to a third - dramatics. On the advice of his teacher, he enrolled at Emerson College, near Boston, to study dramatics. He stayed only a year. "I noticed most of the graduates seemed to wind up teaching elocution at some college or another. That wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted action."

Action - in New York - was slow in coming, however. In 1936 he was a spear carrier (and the understudy for the role of Fortinbras) in Leslie Howard's production of Hamlet. During that same production, Richard met the girl he was to marry, former actress and singer Gay Adams, who played the "lady-in-waiting". Gay first thought Dick was too good-looking for comfort. While she had already made a reputation for herself as one of a crop of talented society singers, she was still quite young and not entirely sure of herself. The deadlock was broken one evening when Leslie Howard, who was notoriously nearsighted, was almost struck by a cab in front of the theater. Dick pushed him out of the way but was knocked down himself. As a result, Gay started coming around to inquire how Dick was doing.

Dick wangled a few more bit parts, occasionally had a chance to speak a few lines, as was the case in Moon of the Caribbees (Lafayette Theatre, Oct 29. 1937 - Jan 15. 1938) replacing Canada Lee as Yank.

Once in a while, found work in radio and landed several roles eventually leading to the lead in Young Dr. Malone. Like most young actors, he had to depend on odd jobs in order to keep body and soul together. He packed glass crates in the basement of the Steuben Glass Company, sold men's furnishings at Saks, ran a freight elevator in an office building, did carpentry work, and worked in a light manufacturing plant.

Dick and Gay tied the knot on June 15. 1940.

Right: "Richard Coogan, who plays the role of Robbie in Young Doctor Malone (NBC-CBS), leaves the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City with his bride, the former Gay Adams. Mrs. Coogan has sung at the Stork Club, the Pierre, and other fashionable New York nightclubs."

He had a replacement role in Spring Again (Henry Miller's Theatre, Nov 10. 1941 - Jan 10. 1942 & Playhouse Theatre, Jan 10. 1942 - Jun 06. 1942).

Then came the war and, like his brothers who all went on to distinguish themselves in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, Dick tried to enlist too, but was turned down because of his heart condition. He then took a defense job in a Long Island plant manufacturing ordnance supplies and, kept at it even after he got steady radio work. 

Richard has been acting professionally since 1942. At that time he was waiting for his Broadway "break," when he decided to try radio were he worked as an announcer and news anchor. He auditioned for -and won -the role of Abie Levy in NBC Radio's Abie's Irish Rose. As of September 1942 he took over from Sydney Smith. And, incidentally, while performing that role at night, he was working in a defense plant by day. Making arrangements with his foreman to have Wednesday afternoons off for rehearsals. Richard Coogan and Mercedes McCambridge played Abie and Rosemary at one time during the three-year run from 1942-1944. In April 1944 the role of Rosemary was played by Julie Stevens.

He had his most exciting moment before the microphones playing with Helen Hayes in the "Miracle in the Rain" episode of Front Line Theater (AFRS, May.15 1944), but also in New World A'Coming (WMCA, Oct 22. 1944 - Nov. 18. 1947, min. 10 x), Joe and Mabel, Against the Storm, and Lorenzo Jones.

Most of the Broadway different productions he appeared in were short-lived: Alice in Arms (National Theatre, Jan 31. - Feb 3. 1945), and The Hasty Heart (Hudson Theatre, Jan 3. - Jun 30. 1945) where towards the end he replaced John Lund as Yank.

In television, he made his debut on November 11. 1945 with an appearance in The Front Page (WNBT), continuing to work in the medium semi-permanently.

He also was heard in The Fighting Senator (CBS, 1946),  The Light of the World (CBS, 1946), The Hour of Mystery (ABC, June 9. 1946) the first episode "Journey into Fear" with Laurence Olivier, and Molle Mystery Theatre (NBC, Nov 29. 1946)

Then on radio, Richard portrayed Ellery Queen during late 1946 and early ‘47. Richard replaced Sydney Smith in the radio series but lasted only a few months. Anthony Boucher, who then collaborated on the weekly scripts with Ellery Queen co-creator Manfred B. Lee, described Coogan’s performance in a letter to Lee (25 October 1946) as “not quite so smug” as his predecessor’s. (Nevins)

The Mysterious Traveler (Mutual, Jan 12. 1947 - July 6. 1948, min 3 x).