Edwin Thompson
Dr. Edwin Thompson was a colleague of Dr. David Reed and Dr. Mark Williams, who was nearly always seen smoking a pipe. He accompanied them on their on their expedition into the Amazon with Dr. Carl Maia. It is unknown exactly what Dr. Thompson's area of expertise was (although possibly he was a geologist).
After the Gill Man was captured, Thompson was elected to guard him. The Gill Man quickly broke free of his flimsy cage and attacked Thompson, clawing his face up pretty badly, and he would've certainly been killed had not Kay Lawrence come to his rescue and chased the monster off with a the bright light from a lit lantern. Thompson spent the rest of the expedition confined to his cabin aboard the Rita, heavily bandaged.
Comments
The fate of Dr. Thompson in the 1977 Carl Dreadstone novelization of Creature From the Black Lagoon is much different than in the film. He is killed when the Gill Man impales him by throwing a tree branch at him like a javellin from across the lagoon. He is also a biologist in this version of the first, and his first name has been shortened to simply Ed.