John Gavin

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John Navid Gavin
United States Ambassador to Mexico
In office June 5, 1981 – June 10, 1986
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Julian Nava
Succeeded by	Charles J. Pilliod, Jr.
Personal details
Born	John Anthony Golenor Gavin (1931-04-08) 8 April 1931 (age 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Cecily Evans (m. 1957–1957; divorced); 7 children Constance Towers (1974–present); 2 stephchildren by this marriage
Occupation	Actor

John Gavin (born John Anthony Golenor; April 8, 1931) is an American film actor and a former United States Ambassador to Mexico. Gavin is of Mexican and Irish descent, and is fluent in Spanish. John currently resides in Faithlegg, County Waterford, Ireland.

Early life [edit]

Gavin's father (Herald Ray Golenor)'s family is of Irish origin, and were early landowners in California when it was still under Spanish rule. Gavin's mother, Delia Diana Pablos, hailed from the historically influential Pablos family of Sonora, Mexico. After attending St. John's Military Academy (Los Angeles) and Villanova Prep (Ojai, California), both Catholic schools, he earned a B.A. from Stanford University, where he did senior honors work in Latin American economic history and was a member of Stanford's Naval ROTC unit.^[1] During the Korean War Gavin was commissioned in the U.S. Navy serving aboard the USS Princeton offshore Korea where he served as an air intelligence officer from 1952 to 1955. Due to Gavin's fluency in both Spanish and Portuguese he was assigned as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Milton E. Miles. Following his naval service he offered himself as a technical adviser to a film about the US Navy, but was instead offered a screen test.^[1]

Film and stage career [edit]

Contracted to Universal Pictures where he was groomed as a virile, strapping, handsome leading man in the mold of Rock Hudson. Among his most famous roles are in A Time to Love and A Time To Die and Imitation of Life (1959) for director Douglas Sirk and producer Ross Hunter, both of whom had earlier helped make a star of Hudson. Gavin also appeared in the classic thriller Psycho (1960) for director Alfred Hitchcock, the epic Spartacus (1960) directed by Stanley Kubrick, and the 1920s-era Julie Andrews musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) for George Roy Hill, again for producer Ross Hunter. Each of those films was among the most successful box-office attractions of their year of release.^{[citation needed]}

Gavin co-starred with such top leading ladies of the era as Doris Day in the 1960 thriller Midnight Lace, Sophia Loren the same year in the comedic A Breath of Scandal and, in 1961, with Susan Hayward in the melodrama Back Street and in Romanoff and Juliet and Tammy Tell Me True, both with Sandra Dee.^{[citation needed]}

James Bond [edit]

Gavin was signed for the role of James Bond in the 1971 film Diamonds Are Forever after George Lazenby left the role. He never played Bond, however, due to Sean Connery's expensive return to the "007" franchise, yet Gavin still had his contract honored in full. According to Roger Moore's James Bond Diary, Gavin also was slated to play Bond in 1973 in Live and Let Die, but Harry Saltzman insisted on an Englishman for the role (Roger Moore played the role instead). Gavin did play OSS 117 the French equivalent of 007, in Pas de Roses pour OSS 117 / No Roses For OSS 117 (1968) replacing Frederick Stafford who was filming Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz.

Screen Actors Guild [edit]

Gavin was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1971 to 1973.

Live theater [edit]

Gavin made a successful foray into live theater in the 1970s, showcasing his baritone voice. He toured the summer stock circuit as El Gallo in a production of The Fantasticks and later replaced Ken Howard in the Broadway musical, Seesaw (1973) opposite Michele Lee. Gavin also toured the country in Seesaw with Lucie Arnaz. Both the Broadway and touring production were directed by Michael Bennett.^{[citation needed]}

Politics [edit]

John Gavin with first ladies Paloma Cordero of Mexico (left) and Nancy Reagan of the United States (right) after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

A Republican, Gavin was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in June 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and served until June 12, 1986. During his tenure as ambassador, he was involved in an incident where he roughed up a local television cameraman. Since leaving government service, he has become a successful businessman and civic leader.^{[citation needed]}

Personal [edit]

He has been married to Constance Towers, a stage and television actress, since 1974. They had first met in 1957 at a party when his godfather, Jimmy McHugh, introduced them. Gavin and Towers each had two children from previous marriages when they married, so the couple have four adult children and three grandchildren. Gavin's elder daughter, Cristina, followed in his footsteps and became an actress. His younger daughter, Maria, also followed in Gavin's footsteps in her own right with a master's degree from Stanford, and has a successful career in television production.^[2]

Select filmography [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Gavin

• John Gavin at the Internet Movie Database
• John Gavin - So Suave