“As far as I’m concerned, it’s time the button-down collar, white shirt, and tie became the uniform of Hollywood’s male dramatic personnel. There are no bare-chested, pectoral-showing parts on my film calendar.” John Gavin
| Net Worth: | $5 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | April 8, 1931 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.93 m |
About John Gavin
Gavin, who was tall, dark, and attractive, had his acting debut in Behind the High Wall in 1956. Three years later, in 1959, he costarred with Lana Turner in Douglas Sirk’s version of Imitation of Life. Gavin was initially portrayed by Sirk as a German soldier in the previous year’s production of Erich Maria Remarque’s A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), whose Ross Hunter-produced melodramas of the mid-1950s made Hudson a celebrity. The 1959 film Imitation of Life, which Ross Hunter produced in his customary opulent manner, was a big success. It appeared that Gavin was headed toward becoming a significant Hudson-style heartthrob.
His mother, Delia Diana Pablos, was a Mexican-born aristocracy, while his father, Juan Vincent Apablasa Sr., was of Chilean ancestry. Juan’s parents separated when he was two years old, and after her marriage to Herald Ray Golenor, Juan was adopted and given the new name John Anthony Golenor. His parents encouraged him to pursue a career in law, and John himself showed an early fascination in the legal system, Latin America, and diplomacy. After attending St. John’s Military Academy and Villanova Prep School, he received a BA from Stanford University. He belonged to Stanford’s Naval ROTC program.
Gavin was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and served as an air intelligence officer aboard the USS Princeton off the coast of Korea from 1951 until the end of the war in 1953. Gavin was given the position of Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Milton E. Miles because of his proficiency in both Spanish and Portuguese, which he held until the end of his four-year tour of duty in 1955. For his efforts during the 1954 Honduras floods, he was given a prize.
After serving in the Navy, Gavin offered to help Bryan Foy, a family friend and filmmaker, with the technical aspects of his film on the Princeton. Instead, Foy got Universal-International to set up a screen test for Gavin. Gavin rejected the offer at first, but his father persuaded him to give it a shot. After passing the examination, Gavin agreed to join the studio. He later admitted, “They offered me so much money I couldn’t resist.”
In 1957, Gavin wed the actress Cicely Evans. They resided in Beverly Hills and had two kids. In 1965, there was a divorce from the marriage. Gavin dated Luciana Paluzzi, his co-star, while they were filming No Roses for Robert in Italy in 1967.
Douglas Sirk had already cast Gavin to play Lana Turner’s sidekick in Imitation of Life before A Time to Love and a Time to Die had even been released (1959). This movie had a successful box office run, unlike A Time to Love and a Time to Die, and Gavin was named the most promising male debutant for his work on the movie by the Motion Picture Exhibitor.
From 1961 until 1965, Gavin served as the Organization of American States’ cultural advisor. Gavin renegotiated his contract with Universal in September 1964, giving him the freedom to accept jobs outside the studio.
Convoy, a short-lived television program, included him as a character. He starred in the 1967 Mexican film Pedro Páramo, which was adapted from Juan Rulfo’s book. His next part was as the pretentious lover of Mary Tyler Moore’s character in the Universal musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, set in the 1920s (1967). Gavin used the occasion to mock his on-screen personas from the Ross Hunter movies.
Alongside Geraldine Chaplin and Salah Zulfikar, Gavin portrayed Akhenaten in the 1973 television film Nefertiti y Aquenatos. Gavin played Cary Grant in the television movie Sophia Loren: Her Own Story in the late 1970s (1980).
In the 1970s, Gavin ventured into live theater, showcasing his baritone voice. From June 29 to July 4, 1970, in Massachusetts, he performed as El Gallo on the summer stock circuit in a production of The Fantasticks for the South Shore Music Circus’ 20th anniversary.
Gavin also filmed a few more motion pictures in the 1970s, performed on Broadway and in the Seesaw tour as well as touring in summer stock in a production of The Fantasticks (Gavin has a lovely baritone voice) (1973). He abandoned show business to pursue his business interests, although he concluded the decade with playing the lead in the TV miniseries Doctors’ Private Lives (1979). Reagan became America’s president in the 1980s, and on May 7, 1981, he named Republican Gavin as ambassador to Mexico. Gavin held this position until June 10, 1986. More than a dozen U.S. government departments assigned more than 1,000 American and Mexican staff members to work in consulates and offices around Mexico as part of the largest diplomatic mission in the world.
Following George Lazenby’s departure from the character of James Bond in the 1971 movie Diamonds Are Forever, Gavin was cast in the part.
He agreed to play James Bond in the movie in an unsuccessful attempt to revive the brand with an American actor, replacing George Lazenby. Gavin was swiftly fired after the producers agreed to Sean Connery‘s last-minute wage request.
Despite losing the part to Connery, Gavin’s contract was upheld, and as a result, he was still paid in full. Gavin wed Constance Towers, a theater and screen actress, in 1974. At a gathering in 1957, Gavin’s godfather, Jimmy McHugh, introduced the two people. From her previous marriage to Eugene McGrath, Towers had two children. Until Towers passed away in 2018, Gavin and Towers remained wed.
Gavin rose to prominence as a businessman and community leader after leaving the government, co-founding and running lucrative businesses in the US and Latin America. Republican Gavin was nominated by President Ronald Reagan as the United States’ ambassador to Mexico in June 1981 and held the position until June 1986. After serving as ambassador to Mexico, Gavin joined Atlantic Richfield as vice president of federal and international relations in June 1986.
Gavin was chosen to lead Univisa Satellite Communications, a division of Univisa, Inc., in 1986. He is the founder and chairman of Gamma Holdings, as well as a trustee and director of a few Merrill Lynch mutual funds. He also sits on the boards of Apex Mortgage Capital, International Wire Holdings, and KKFC Inc. He also serves on Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst’s Latin America Strategy Board. He previously held the positions of managing director, partner, and director with Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (Latin America) (where he had served as vice president of federal and international relations). Additionally, he served on the boards of Dresser Industries, Claxson, and a number of other significant businesses.
He left his position in 1987 to take the helm of Univisa Satellite Communications, a division of the massive Spanish-language media conglomerate Univisa.
Gavin also volunteered his time to serve on the boards of various nonprofit organizations, including the California Community Foundation, Loyola Marymount University, and the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Gavin served as a defense and international policy expert on the Congressional Policy Advisory Board.
