00:03john gavin born john anthony gollinar on april eighth nineteen thirty one seemed destined to be much more than just
00:10a film and tv actor
00:12as a young boy john gavin attended the prestigious st john's military academy and then went on to stanford university
00:19where he graduated with honors in latin american economic history
00:23then he served in naval intelligence aboard the uss princeton during the korean war after his hitch in the navy
00:30universal studios the home of heartthrob rock hudson offered gavin a contract
00:36tall dark and handsome gavin debuted in behind the high wall in 1956 and three years later he had his
00:45first major lead in douglas sirk's remake of imitation of life opposite lana turner
00:52sirk had first directed gavin in the role of a german soldier in a time to love and a time
00:57to die the year before
01:00imitation of life was a huge hit and it looked like gavin was on the road to becoming a major
01:05hollywood star
01:06the next year gavin hit the big time appearing in two film classics as janet lee's lover in alfred hitchcock's
01:14psycho and as julius caesar and stanley kubrick's spartacus
01:18he would later proclaim that i didn't have an inkling they would be classics had i realized that
01:24perhaps i would have paid more attention
01:27at the start of the 1960s gavin seemed poised to be the next big superstar but his career began to
01:34sputter
01:34in 1961 he appeared opposite susan hayward in the remake of backstreet and then transitioned into television
01:44in 1964 he landed the starring role on the underrated and short-lived show destry
01:50the show was a spinoff on the hit films destry and destry rides again
02:01destry was a crack shot but always went to great lengths to avoid confrontation using humor
02:07and intelligence try and squeeze out of tough situations not mine be reasonable for that much
02:13money i would have turned myself in i'll march it was a great role for gavin who played it with
02:20a
02:20perfect amount of wit and class unfortunately destry was canceled after only one season a victim of
02:28america's waning interest in the western genre but gavin was already branching out a passion for
02:35government led him to be appointed special advisor to the organization of american states in 1961
02:41and he also worked for the department of state and the executive office of the president from 1966 to 1973
02:49he also served on the board of the screen actors guild and was guild president from 1971 to 1973
02:57in 1971 just as it looked like john gavin would never become a huge hollywood star the producers of
03:04the james bond series started talking to him about taking over the lead role of the iconic 007 spy
03:11in diamonds are forever it would have been his career making role until a million dollar salary offer
03:19convinced sean connery to reprise the part of 007 but gavin did not lament the loss of the role for
03:26long
03:27after acting on broadway in film and on television in the 1970s he left show business for good to
03:34pursue his interests in business and government on may 7th 1981 president ronald reagan gave john gavin
03:42his dream job when he appointed him ambassador to mexico he would later say that being a more successful
03:48actor might have prevented me from fulfilling my real childhood dream to be the u.s ambassador to mexico
03:56john gavin married to former actress constance towers since 1974 is still going strong a successful actor
04:05a loving husband father and grandfather a distinguished career in government and a prosperous businessman and
04:12a civic leader even james bond might be a little jealous of all that
04:18you
Commenti