John Gavin Dies at 86

Alas, a bright beacon of hotness has burned out.

I'm sorry.

He was superb eye candy.

Unfortunately he was so stunningly beautiful that he couldn't play normal characters on screen. Dramatic roles were out of his reach. Playing opposite a plain woman was just unconvincing.

Poor Connie must be bald from grief!

And yet I live on

Tears mingle with the snow, as all the queens of DL gather to type their final goodbye to one of the hottest, and most beautiful actors of all time

Gavin could hold his own easily with the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier, R2!

At least in ways that matter to DL.

Let me be the first to say it, He had a hot ass but he couldn't live forever.

When i was a little boy I couldn't tell him apart from Tom Tryon and frequently confused the two. They both had the same effect on my pubescent loins.

When asked about her favorite type of man, Bridget Bardot said: john Gavin. I wouldn't mind, Briget.

For such a mediocre (albeit beautiful) actor, he has a surprising number of classic films on his resume:

Psycho,

Imitation of Life

Spartacus

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Does Meryl Streep even have that kind of a resume?

RIP John Gavin. You were truly luscious.

Tryon has to be in his 70s at least. I can't really think of anyone working now who has that same look and affect. Jesse Bradford maybe:

So young.

The first time I remember seeing this beautiful man was in Back Street. It was love (lust?) at first sight.

Wasn't he in Niagara?

The opening scene in "Psycho" gave me my first boner.

So are all the cast members of Psycho dead?

Me too, R15--in utero.

He was so hot

[quote]John Gavin, the American film and TV actor, businessman and diplomat who was Ronald Reagan's first Ambassador to Mexico, was born John Anthony Golenor. The future "Jack" Gavin was a fifth generation Angeleno on the side of his father Herald, who was descended from the Golenor family of Spain. The Golenors were early landowners in Spanish California, but despite this proud heritage, Herald Golenor eventually changed the family's name to Gavin. John Gavin's mother was descended from the powerful Pablos family hailing from the Mexican state of Sonora, where she was born. From his Mexican mother, Gavin gained a fluency in Spanish that was to aid him in his future career in diplomacy. John Gavin graduated with honors from Stanford University, majoring in Latin American economic history. "Law, Latin America and diplomacy were my early interests," Gavin later remembered. Too young to participate in World War II, he did serve in the military during the Korean Conflict. He was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1952, where he served in naval air intelligence until his 1955 discharge.

Not just incredibly handsome, but a smart, dignified man. RIP, Mr Gavin.

R6, Vera Miles is still alive.

He really wasn't that bad of an actor. Just because he was beautiful, doesn't make him bad. I think most people think of him as a poor-man's Rock Hudson. They were both extraordinarily good looking. The very definition of tall, dark and handsome.

Oh no! Sadness. The man got even hotter in middle age. So handsome.

He and Fabio Testi. Fabio is still incredibly sexy

Patricia Hitchcock is still alive at 89.

His wife (Connie Towers) insisted that he give up the Ambassador to Mexico job. His life was threatened several times.

Fabio now. Still fantastic

It's a sad day at the DataLounge.

Testi, Tryon and Hudson were all good looking.

But the late John Gavin had that strong jawline which made him look the best right up until the end

R11, Tom Tryon died at 65 in 1991.. In 1958 he married. It lasted three years. His later relationships were with men.

Yeah, I was just googling him, R29. My mom had one of his books in our home library and I used to stare at the author photo on the dust jacket. Don't tell me how I knew, but I knew.

John was the most handsome american actor ever.

[quote]Gavin could hold his own easily with the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier. At least in ways that matter to DL.

Also the ways that mattered to Olivier!

He would have made a great Superman in his prime. Seriously.

I tried to watch him in this movie but he was too physically gorgeous to be credible.

1. He couldn't pay a German character 2. He was playing opposite a woman who had the looks and sex appeal of a dishrag.

Damn you 2018!

So young. So very young ...

In other news, the 5 dollar black crack whore who always loiters in front of my building also died today.

I would have stolen money for him too. *Swoon*

John and Connie last year

He was a freeper. Yeah, he was hot but who cares?

Another old age shot of JG

R20, you mean to refer to R16, not R6. Vera Miles and Patricia Hitchcock live.

It gave him one too, r15! Supposedly you can see it (clothed of course) when he gets up off the bed and goes to the chair. He does awkwardly cover himself with a shirt there, so maybe its true.

Was just on TMC with "Midnight Lace" with Doris Day

[quote]He was a freeper. Yeah, he was hot but who cares?

He was 86, He was a Freeper before the party was hijacked by the Religious Right and Racists.

Constance Towers was a gorgeous woman back in the day. And she was an excellent actress and a wonderful singer, too.

R37 I'm holding a candle in one hand and a five in the other.

[quote] I think most people think of him as a poor-man's Rock Hudson

Pretty much sums it up. Loved him with Lana Turner.

R37, forgot to sign "Darfur Orphan."

"Ah sweet mystery of life at last I've found you!"

Yummy, RIP.

R45, Connie still looks good at 84, she's Helena Cassadine on "General Hospital."

Love him but hard to see him replacing Sean Connery as Bond. He just didn't have that edge to him sexually.

Any photos of John and Connie's kids? They must be gorgeous.

So was bi or what?

R43, the story is that Hitchcock was not getting the performance out of Gavin in the bedroom scene that he wanted. So he told Leigh to stimulate Gavin a bit...

a nice close-up shot

He was a great man and very kind.

I saw Constance on Broadway in The King and I with Yul Brynner.

Anybody see him in Seesaw?

Also, Constance Towers starred in the brilliant,"The Naked Kiss. "

R59, Yes, saw him in the national tour of Seesaw with Lucie Arnaz and Tommy Tune in Boston in 1974.

LONGTIME DL fave

As Julius Caesar in Spartacus.

At the 1959 Golden Globes with Rock Hudson ("World Film Favorite-Male"), Susan Kohner (Most Promising Newcomer-Female"), and Linda Cristal ("Most Promising Newcomer-Female"). Gavin won "Most Promising Newcomer-Male," along with the recently departed Bradford Dillman and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

Gavin and Susan Hayward in “Back Street” (1961).

^ Poor Rock looks rather plain in comparison to John in that picture.

Horrible actor and a conservative snob.

no one ever made chest hair and motel sex more appealing

I saw him in Seesaw in NY, taking over for Ken Howard. Gavin was better--handsomer, in better shape for the skin scene, and very lively, which Howard never was.

Howard sang better, true. But Gavin really had stage presence. Unfortunately, the night I saw it both Michele Lee and Tommy Tune were out, and their understudies, especially his, weren't as up on their lines as they should have been. Tune showed up for the second act, which is where most of his role (the big number with the little stair thing) was.

But the scene in the apartment with Gavin and the two understudies was hair-raising, because they came very close to just falling apart.

John Gavin was a technicolor dreamboat. He makes Imitation of Life worth watching. And the blue-black rinse on his hair made him dreamy.

Ugh.

Rethug.

No thanks.

I wonder about his heritage because there's not much on Google.

His mother was Mexican and I'm guessing his father Mr Golenor came from Southern Europe.

Republican in the 60's/70's (pre Reagan) didn't necessarily mean the loathsome dicks we see today. They were for infrastructure, pro-environment, science and education, and generally supportive of the civil rights movement.

It took Nixon's and Reagan's "southern strategy" and the Bushes' race baiting to produce the odious cretins now owning the party

He was in A Breath of Scandal with Loren. They must have looked great together.

R72, Mr. Golenor was John's stepfather, who adopted John when John was a toddler. John's real father Juan Vincent Apablasa, Sr. was of Chilean descent.

^ Thank you R75.

That somehow makes him a little more interesting.

John's grandfather Cayetano Apablasa was a wealthy landowner in 19th century Los Angeles, whose seven acre estate near the Old Plaza included the land where Chinatown and Union Station now sit. Cayetano eventually ran for office and joined the City Common Council, the predecessor of today's LA City Council. His widow, Concepcion Carrasco married another prominent Angeleno, Ildefonso Sepulveda, whose family owned a ranch in the South Bay.

RIP, John. The epitome of dreamboat. Damn, they really broke the mold!

I love the name Constance Towers

R79 Constance Towers is the location of the auto dealership, Constance Ford.

Looks like Rock's hotter first cousin once removed

didn't know he was with Constance Towers! Talk about scorching hot couple! wow.

He was so hot in his prime. Interesting timing...with my new XFinity 1 DVR, I recently set it up to record anything with John Gavin. I've seen movies I have never heard of, but also captured an episode of HART TO HART where he and his toupee guest starred.

Back Street (1961 film) starring John Gavin, Susan Hayward and Vera Miles

Great melodrama tearjerker.

Holding a picture of John Gavin, Susan Hayward, "the other woman who longed for the man she couldn't have" was asked if she could build a room around it. She responded as only Susan Hayward could: "Why not, I've built a life around it."

John Gavin worked with both Michele Lee and Lucie Arnaz in the Broadway show "Seesaw."

In 1973, Gavin replaced Ken Howard in the Broadway musical, Seesaw (1973) opposite Michele Lee, beating out Tab Hunter who also auditioned because, according to the producers, Gavin "sings and dances better than Hunter and looks great on stage with Michele". (Gavin later claimed he was offered the musical from the beginning but turned it down because the book was not up to scratch, then changed his mind when director Michael Bennett asked him to join the cast later.) He played the role for seven months, then stayed in it when the show toured the country with Lucie Arnaz.

It's sad that his career never reached the cinematic heights of Connie's.

So, so beautiful. RIP.

I must try and think of him as Juan Apablasa to give him that sexy edge as we undress ready for for some man-to-man sex.

I don't want to rag on Mrs. Gavin cuz.....ya know. Howevuh, how the hell did Miss Smith make not dancing LOOK like dancing and poor Connie just.....doesn't?

The first time I ever saw John was as a young kid, when there was a television showing of A Time to Love And a Time to Die. I thought he was the most handsome man I had ever seen. When my mother told me he was born of Mexican-Americans like me, I felt so proud. Later on others told me he was not Mexican at all. It was hard to find personal information at the time. I enjoyed his other movies and could rarely take my eyes off of him. Reading his obituary today makes me proud and happy at this sad time. You were right mama.

R90. From Wiki...

Born Juan Vincent Apablasa, Gavin was of Mexican, Chilean and Spanish descent, and was fluent in Spanish. His father, Juan Vincent Apablasa, was of Chilean origin, and his paternal ancestors, including Cayetano Apablasa, were early landowners in California when it was still under Spanish rule. Gavin's mother, Delia Diana Pablos, hailed from the historically influential Pablos family of the Mexican state of Sonora. Roughly two years after Gavin's birth, his mother obtained a divorce from Apablasa. Her next marriage was to Herald Ray Golenor who adopted John and changed his name to John Anthony Golenor.

R11 Damn! Forgot about Jesse. What's he been doing lately?

He reminds me of Henry Cavill. or what his career will be like.

R89 = Kim Cattrall

[quote] with my new XFinity 1 DVR, I recently set it up to record anything with John Gavin.

How can it do that? Is it connected to IMDb data?

The first time I saw him in Psycho, I was aroused

Yikes! That NY Times obit is not kind about his lack of acting skills or his diplomatic stay in Mexico.

Always got him confused with John Saxon in that both were swarthy mangenues developed by agent and frequent dabbler Henry Willson as "exciting new personalities" in the mid-50s. Saxon is 81 and still appearing in movies, had the more interesting show business career.

Gavin (for the most part!) essentially began his film career playing leading men opposite established A list female stars.

John Saxon, as much as I love him, spent years as a 3rd, 4th or 5th-billed male starlet and never really rose to the height of the male lead in A list films. Nevertheless, IMHO, Saxon was a far more interesting screen presence, sexually and otherwise.

I just watched Psycho the other day. He was so handsome. RIP.

R97, would you expect the Times to say something nice about an Ambassador appointed by Reagan?

Don't you just detest this type when they show up at your high school reunion?

He was a fine man.

I used to see him as an ordinary beautiful American man with the acting skills of a block of wood.

From now on I will see him as an interesting beautiful Chilean/Mexican (who's probably unfamiliar with the subtleties of the English language) with the acting skills of a block of wood.

The NYT Obit was needlessly snarky. He was intelligent, Stanford grad, multilingual, sophisticated, talented and gorgeous.

R95, I posted about setting up,DVR via Xfinity to record all John Gavin.

If you have the voice remote, just say any name and it will pull up movies and tv shows On Demand or upcoming with that person. You can select "record all" and it will record anything if that person is listed in the credits of the display guide.

For me, he was the most handsome man on screen ever! I saw nothing wrong with his acting. I would much rather see him on screen than James Stewart, Laurence Olivier, or Orson Welles, who supposedly were great actors. He belongs alongside charismatic actors like Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Robert Redford, Rock Hudson,etc. Hot men who always made me want to see their dicks.

I need to make an effort to watch more of his movies.

^ Oooh, he's so very Venezuelan!

R99, gorgeous Saxon had that badboy edge to him, and also could act. Had some heartthrob leads but was too swarthy and short for that long term. Built like a tank. Early on he was an extra in the Central Park scene in "It Should Happen to You." Always wondered if director Cukor sampled his wares.

Saxon, built like a tank?

Please link photos to illustrate, r110.

"The NYT Obit was needlessly snarky. He was intelligent, Stanford grad, multilingual, sophisticated, talented and gorgeous."

He was a freeper who probably hated gays

Gavin had 2 daughters with Constance Towers so he is end of the Gavin line. She had a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.

R98, R110 There's a thread for the John Saxon lovers.

John Gavin was so hot in "Psycho," "Midnight Lace" and "Spartacus." Just gorgeous to behold. Sadly, his acting wasn't as stunning as his looks.

[quote]He would have made a great Superman in his prime. Seriously.

I misread this as, "He would have made a great [italic]Supreme[/italic] in his prime."

???

At least we still have Perry King

We also still have Peggy King, still hanging in at 86.

Peggy King (born 16 February 1932, Greensburg, Pennsylvania) is a jazz and pop vocalist and former TV personality. She got her start with the bands of Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan and Ray Anthony and was featured on an early TV series with Mel Torme.