Hispanic-American actor and diplomat; a dark and handsome leading man in films such as Spartacus (1960) and Romanoff and Juliet (1961) as well as the TV series Destry (1964) and Convoy (1965). Before his Hollywood debut, Gavin had a four-year stint as an air-intelligence officer in the Navy during and following the Korean War. He worked briefly as a press agent and made his screen debut in 1956. In 1971-1973 he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and was heavily involved in diplomatic affairs; serving for many years, 1961-1973, as an advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
With his fluent Spanish from a Mexican mother and a B.A. in history along with study in economics and Latin-American issues, he was qualified for the sensitive post of U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, 1981-1986, as appointed by his friend, Ronald Reagan.
He married actress Cicely Evans in 1957. They had two children and divorced in 1965. While making No Roses for Robert in Italy in 1967 he dated co star Luciana Paluzzi. Gavin was married to Constance Towers, a stage and television actress, from 8 September 1974 until his death. Towers had two children from her previous marriage to Eugene McGrath.
John Gavin died on 9 February 2018, aged 86, due to complications with pneumonia. He was at home surrounded by his family. Gavin had also been battling leukemia for some time.
Link to Wikipedia biography