AustLit

Film director and actor.

John Gavin's early work was as an actor, including a ten-year association with Bland Holt's dramatic company. He also established himself for many years on the variety stage. In the early 1900s, Gavin turned his professional attention to filmmaking. He directed three bushranging features for Bert Forsyth, including Thunderbolt (1910), in which he also played the lead role. In early 1911, he directed a series of films for the newly established production partnership of Crick and Finlay. He soon afterwards established himself as an independent producer/director, achieving mixed success over the next few years before moving to Hollywood in 1918.

Gavin's American film career saw him secure minor roles in several westerns and comedies, specialising mostly in fight scenes and slapstick routines. He returned to Australia in 1922, hoping to produce a number of films, including a Ned Kelly serial, but encountered setbacks over censorship issues. Unable to raise the necessary capital, he went back to Hollywood the following year.

In 1925, Gavin came back to Australia. Three years later, he directed his final film, Trooper O'Brien (1928). Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper note that much of Gavin's career was undertaken in close association with his wife, Agnes. She appeared as an actor in several of his films, but was largely responsible for helping write the screenplays. Arguably, their most critically and commercially successful film was The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell (1916).