Browning started a career in water shows, moving on to produce shows. Browning worked at
Wakulla Springs in the 1940s and learned to perform in underwater
newsreels conceived by
Newt Perry, who later took Browning along when he opened
Weeki Wachee Springs. According to Browning, "Their cameraman asked if I could swim in front of the cameras so they could get the perspective of the size of a human being against the fish and the grass. So I did." During filming, Browning reportedly held his breath underwater for up to four minutes at a time. Browning reprised his role as the underwater Gill-man in two sequels,
Revenge of the Creature (1955) and
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). Browning continued in movie production and joined
Ivan Tors' studios in Florida, where he co-wrote and co-produced the 1963 film
Flipper (about an intelligent
bottlenose dolphin) together with Jack Cowden; Browning also directed the
second unit underwater scenes for the film. Browning continued writing and directing for the subsequent
Flipper television series that debuted in 1964. He made his feature film
directorial debut with
Salty (1973), which he also co-wrote with Cowden, Browning was inducted into the
Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2019, he was inducted into the
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame. Prior to his death, Browning was considered the last surviving original actor to portray any of the
Universal Classic Monsters. ==Personal life and death==