John Gavin

He was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1931. Gavin's mother was Delia Diana Pablos of Mexican descent. His father was Herald Ray Golenor, who had Irish origin.

During the Korean War, Gavin was commissioned in the U.S. Navy serving aboard the USS Princeton off Korea where he served as an air intelligence officer from 1951 until the end of the war in 1953. Due to Gavin's fluency in both Spanish and Portuguese, he was assigned as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Milton E. Miles until he completed his four-year tour of duty in 1955. He received an award for his work in the Honduras floods of 1954.

Gavin married actress Cicely Evans in 1957. They had two children and lived in Beverly Hills. The marriage ended in divorce in 1965. While making No Roses for Robert in Italy in 1967 Gavin dated co-star Luciana Paluzzi.

In a 1960 interview, Gavin disputed rumors that he was born into wealth by revealing that he attended a preparatory school and Stanford University on scholarships.

Gavin disliked comparisons to Rock Hudson and in a 1960 interview said he considered quitting acting to take up law.

Gavin left Universal in 1962. He signed to make several movies in Europe including The Assassins, The Challenge and Night Call. However, he pulled out of The Assassins (which became Assassins of Rome (1965)), Night Call and The Challenge were never made.

In early 1964, he starred in the TV series Destry. The series was not a ratings success and was cancelled.

In September 1964, Gavin signed a new contract with Universal which gave him the option to take work outside the studio. He appeared in the television series, Convoy, which was cancelled after a short run. He appeared in Mexican film Pedro Páramo (1967), based on the novel by Juan Rulfo.

Gavin was on the board of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in 1965. He served a term as third vice president and two terms as president from 1971–73. During his presidency Gavin testified before the Federal Trade Commission on phone talent rackets and met with President Richard Nixon to present the problem of excessive television reruns. He presented petitions to the federal government on the issues of prime-time access rules, legislative assistance for American motion pictures, and film production by the government using non-professional actors.

In June 1966, Gavin signed a five-year non-exclusive contract with Universal. He was cast in the lead in OSS 117 – Double Agent (1968), then titled No Roses for Robert, replacing Frederick Stafford who was filming Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. He acted in supporting roles in The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1970), in which he parodied his own image.

Gavin was president of Gamma Holdings, a global capital and consulting company which he helped found in 1968. He became chairman of Gamma Services International in January 1990.

Gavin's presidency in the Screen Actors Guild came to an end when he was defeated by Dennis Weaver in 1973. Gavin was the first incumbent president to be defeated by an independent challenger.

In 1973, Gavin replaced Ken Howard in the Broadway musical Seesaw opposite Michele Lee. Gavin said he first turned down the musical because of his unhappiness with the quality of the book but reconsidered when Michael Bennett asked him to join the cast. He played the role for seven months and toured the United States in the role with Lucie Arnaz. Both the Broadway and touring production were directed by Michael Bennett.

In 1974, Gavin married stage and television actress Constance Towers. The two had originally met at a party in 1957, introduced by Gavin's godfather Jimmy McHugh. They met again years later, when both were divorced. Towers also had two children, from her previous marriage to Eugene McGrath. Gavin and Towers remained married until his death in 2018.

A Republican, Gavin was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in June 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and served until June 1986.

In June 1986 following his work as ambassador to Mexico, Gavin became vice-president of Atlantic Richfield in federal and international relations. In 1987, he resigned to become president of Univisa Satellite Communications, a subsidiary of Univisa, the Spanish language broadcasting empire.

On February 9, 2018 at age 86, Gavin died of complications from pneumonia, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He had also suffered from leukemia for an undisclosed period of time.

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One of the best-lookin' men in Hollywood history.