John Gavin

Acting

John Gavin

Born 1931-04-08 · Los Angeles, California, USA

John Gavin (April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86) and the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73). He was best known for his performances in the films Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Psycho (1960), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing leading roles in a series of films for producer Ross Hunter. Born Juan Vincent Apablasa Jr., Gavin was of Mexican, Chilean and Spanish descent, and was fluent in Spanish. His father, Juan Vincent Apablasa Sr., was of Chilean origin, and his paternal ancestors, including Cayetano Apablasa, were early landowners in California under Spanish rule. Gavin's mother was Delia Diana Pablos. Gavin’s parents divorced when he was about two years old. Gavin’s mother married Herald Ray Golenor, who adopted Gavin and changed his name to John Anthony Golenor.

Acting credits

Psycho poster
8.4

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

Psycho

1960

Spartacus poster
7.5

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

Spartacus

1960

Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You poster
4.3

An American playwright living in Rome consults a quack psychiatrist to combat his fears of balding and save his failing marriage.

Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You

1970

Raw Edge poster
6.3

A Texan arrives in Oregon and seeks justice for his innocently-hanged brother.

Raw Edge

1956

Imitation of Life poster
7.4

In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.

Imitation of Life

1959

A Breath of Scandal poster
5.5

A European princess jeopardizes her crown when she falls for an American millionaire.

A Breath of Scandal

1960

Disclosure poster
7.8

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Disclosure

2020

Thoroughly Modern Millie poster
6.8

Millie Dillmount, a fearless young lady fresh from Salina, Kansas, determined to experience Life, sets out to see the world in the rip-roaring Twenties. With high spirits and wearing one of those new high hemlines, she arrives in New York to test the "modern" ideas she had been reading about back in Kansas: "I've taken the girl out of Kansas. Now I have to take Kansas out of the girl!"

Thoroughly Modern Millie

1967

Midnight Lace poster
6.6

Kit Preston begins to unravel when she receives threatening telephone calls informing her she's soon to be murdered.

Midnight Lace

1960

Back Street poster
5.6

Ambitious but thwarted, Rae Smith meets handsome U.S. Marine Paul Saxon, of the Saxon department store chain, as he passes through Lincoln, Nebraska, on his way home from World War II. There's a definite spark between them but circumstances intervene and he leaves town without her. Later she learns he's married. Determined to make it as a fashion designer, Rae moves to New York City and becomes a great success. One day she happens to meet Paul again and again there's that spark but he's still married so, as a form of escape, Rae moves to Rome to set up shop. Once again she meets Paul and finally they begin an actual affair since Paul's shrewish, drunken wife, Liz, won't give him a divorce. Time passes, the affair continues whenever time and place permit, but then, Paul's young son finds out about Rae and Rae's back-street world begins to crumble.

Back Street

1961

The Madwoman of Chaillot poster
7.3

An eccentric Parisian woman's optimistic perception of life begins to sound more rational than the traditional beliefs of others. The story is set in a 20th-century society endangered by power and greed and imagines the rebellion of the "little people" against corrupt and soulless authority.

The Madwoman of Chaillot

1969

Quantez poster
5.8

A gang of bank robbers with a posse in hot pursuit. Riding into the desert, they take refuge in Quantez, a small town they find deserted. Their horses tired and near death, they’re forced to stay the night — with the plan to cross the border into Mexico the next day.

Quantez

1957

A Time to Love and a Time to Die poster
7.2

A German soldier home on leave falls in love with a girl, then returns to World War II.

A Time to Love and a Time to Die

1958

The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema poster
6.5

Documentary about the presence of Latin American culture and actors in American movies.

The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema

2002

The New Adventures of Heidi poster
5.0

The long-familiar Heidi tale is given a contemporary (and musical) setting as the young heroine leaves her familiar Swiss mountain for the bright lights of Manhattan.

The New Adventures of Heidi

1978

Tammy Tell Me True poster
6.3

Tammy leaves the river in Mississippi to attend college, developing a relationship with Tom Freeman (John Gavin). Sandra Dee replaces Debbie Reynolds in this and the third Tammy movie. This film introduces both a new theme song, "Tammy Tell Me True", and the character of Mrs. Annie Call, played by veteran Beulah Bondi. Mrs. Call ultimately moves in with Tammy at the Ellen B. and would be the catalyst for the events in the following film, "Tammy and The Doctor".

Tammy Tell Me True

1961

Doctors' Private Lives poster
8.0

Two heart surgeons clash over personal issues and medical ethics in a big-city hospital.

Doctors' Private Lives

1978

OSS 117 Murder for Sale poster
5.7

A secret agent is sent to the Middle East to destroy a gang of assassins.

OSS 117 Murder for Sale

1968

True Fear: The Making of Psycho poster
NR

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 black-and-white, low-budget film Psycho gave birth to the modern psychological thriller.

True Fear: The Making of Psycho

2015

Jennifer poster
6.0

Ostracized at a snooty private school because of her rural, poor background, a scholarship student is tormented to the point where her only remaining recourse is revenge, using the only method she knows: her psychic control over snakes!

Jennifer

1978

Cutter's Trail poster
8.0

The Marshal of Santa Fe returns home to find his town almost wiped out by Mexican bandits and enlists the help of a young Mexican boy and his mother to track them down.

Cutter's Trail

1970

Pedro Paramo poster
7.2

When his mother Dolores dies, Juan Preciado, son of Pedro Páramo, goes to Comala to claim his inheritance; but when he arrives he finds an abandoned and sinister place, inhabited by mysterious voices and whispers…

Pedro Paramo

1967

Sophia Loren: Her Own Story poster
5.5

This biopic about actress Sophia Loren covers her life from childhood through international stardom, her marriage to Carlo Ponti following a romantic fling with Cary Grant, and the birth of her first child, and is tied together with actual clips from some of her movies.

Sophia Loren: Her Own Story

1980

Behind the High Wall poster
5.5

A group prison breakout goes from bad to worse when the desperate warden tries to steal the gang's dough.

Behind the High Wall

1956