Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. 7142. Photo: Universal International. John Gavin in Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960).
Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. 7210. Photo: Universal International. John Gavin as Julius Caesar in the Technirama film Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960).
Groomed as a virile, strapping, handsome leading man
John Gavin was born Juan Vincent Apablasa in Los Angeles in 1931. His mother was born in Mexico, his American father had mining interests in the country, and he grew up bilingual. After the divorce of his parents, his name was changed to John Anthony Golenor.
John attended St. John's Military Academy in L.A., Beverly Hills High School, and Villanova Prep in Ojai, Calif., before studying the economic history of Latin America at Stanford University. He graduated from college in 1952, then served in the U.S. Navy as an Air Intelligence Officer.
Following his naval service, Gavin offered himself as a technical adviser to a family friend, film producer Bryan Foy, who was making a film about Princeton. Instead, Foy arranged a screen test with Universal-International. The test was successful and Gavin signed with the studio.
He was billed as John Gilmore in the Western Raw Edge (John Sherwood, 1956), starring Rory Calhoun. Universal groomed Gavin as a virile, strapping, handsome leading man in the mold of Rock Hudson. They gave him roles in the Film Noir Behind the High Wall (Abner Biberman, 1956), the Hollywood drama Four Girls in Town (Jack Sher, 1957) with George Nader and Elsa Martinelli, and Quantez (Harry Keller, 1957) with Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Malone.
He enjoyed a high profile in Hollywood following his debut lead role in the Douglas Sirk film A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. This melodrama was revered for its depiction of Germans towards the end of WWII made just 14 years after it ended. Gavin then starred in Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959), alongside Lana Turner and Sandra Dee. Unlike A Time to Love and a Time to Die, this was a spectacular success at the box office.
He followed that up with a role in another hit, Alfred Hitchock's horror Classic Psycho (1960), in which he played Sam Loomis, the boyfriend of Janet Leigh's doomed Marion Crane. In 1960, John Gavin also appeared in a key supporting role as Julius Caesar in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960), he helped rescue Doris Day from thieving husband Rex Harrison in the thriller Midnight Lace (David Miller, 1960) and was Sophia Loren's handsome leading man in the turkey A Breath of Scandal (Michael Curtiz, 1960).
Austrian flyer (front) by Neues Film-programm, no. 2073, October 1960. Photo: Afex. Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh in Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960).
I'm in the Mood for Love
During the 1960 and 1970s, John Gavin's film credits included the Susan Hayward melodrama Back Street (David Miller, 1961), Tammy Tell Me True (Harry Keller, 1961), with Sandra Dee; The Madwoman of Chaillot (Bryan Forbes, 1969) with Katharine Hepburn; and Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (Rod Amateau, 1970).
Gavin also starred on two short-lived series in 1964 and 1965: as the framed lawman on the ABC Western Destry and as a freighter captain on NBC's Convoy. Through the 1960s, John Gavin served as special adviser to two secretaries-general of the Organization of American States.
While under contract at Universal, Gavin ventured into Mexico against the wishes of the studio and appeared as the title character in Pedro Paramo (Carlos Velo, 1967), a Spanish-language film set during the Mexican Revolution. It was entered into the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. The success enhanced his reputation with Universal execs, who cast him in Thoroughly Modern Millie (George Roy Hill, 1967). He won critical accolades for his ability to do a romantic comedy.
In Rome and Tunisia, he filmed the Eurospy film Pas de Roses pour OSS 117/OSS 117 – Double Agent (Jean-Pierre Desagnat, Renzo Cerrato, André Hunebelle, 1968) about agent OSS 117. And then he was signed and all set to play James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (Guy Hamilton, 1971) before Sean Connery returned after sitting out On Her Majesty's Secret Service (on which George Lazenby played 007) to reclaim the role of the superspy.
Gavin's contract was still honoured in full. According to Roger Moore's 'James Bond Diary', Gavin also was slated to play Bond in Live and Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973), but Harry Saltzman insisted on a British actor for the role and Roger Moore played the role instead.
Gavin later starred as a heart surgeon on the TV miniseries Doctors' Private Lives (Steven Stern, 1979) and played Cary Grant in a telefilm about the life of Sophia Loren, Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (Mel Stuart, 1980) in which the actress played herself. In 1973, he also appeared on Broadway in the romantic comedy 'Seesaw', and his TV credits included The Virginian, Hart to Hart, Medical Center, Mannix, The Doris Day Show, The Saint, and Fantasy Island.
In May 1981, Gavin accepted President Ronald Reagan's invitation to serve as Ambassador to Mexico. He presided over what was then America’s third-largest embassy, with 1,181 employees. He resigned from the post in June 1986. In 1987, Gavin was named president of Universal Satellite Communications, then the owner of the Spanish-language TV-programmer Univision.
John Gavin was married to Cecily Evans from 1957-1965. In 1974, he married actress Constance Towers, known for the Sam Fuller experimental films Shock Corridor (1963) and The Naked Kiss (1964). His godfather, the prolific songwriter Jimmy McHugh ('I'm in the Mood for Love'), had introduced him to Towers.
French postcard.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1419. Photo: Universal International.
Sources: Jacob Stolworthy (The Independent), The Hollywood Reporter, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 5 April 2021.
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