John Kavanagh (actor)

Personal life

John Kavanagh is an Irish character actor. He began his career with the Irish comedy Paddy (1970), where he played the small role of Willie Egan. That same year, he played another small role in the World War II film The McKenzie Break (1970), about a P.O.W. camp in Scotland whose prisoners are preparing an escape.

The next twelve years brought Kavanagh no new films, though he continued to act on stage. Finally, he decided to return to screen acting with the theatrical film The Ballroom of Romance (1982), which put him in a romance with actress Brenda Fricker. The film was followed up with the small film Attracta (1983), and the made-for-television movie The Country Girls (1984), starring Sam Neill.

Kavanagh's next theatrical film was one of the most famous films of his career: the Irish film Cal (1984), starring Helen Mirren and John Lynch. The film was about a young member of the IRA (Lynch) who is seeking to get out of the organization. He meets the widow of one of the IRA's victims (Mirren) and begin a love affair.

Moving on from this film, Kavanagh acted in a number of films and television series. He participated in the action film The Joyriders (1999), the crime drama Bellman and True (1987), the independent film 4 Play: In the Border Country (1991), and the thriller The Fantasist (1986), among others.

Kavanagh's career picked up considerably in the mid-nineties. He acted alongside such classic actors as Mia Farrow and Jim Broadbent in the John Irvin film Widows' Peak (1994). Kavanagh then guest-starred in the Sharpe series (starring Sean Bean and Hugh Fraser), where he played the holy man Father Michael Curtis. That same year, he acted in Braveheart (1995). Starring Gibson, Angus Macfadyen and Brendan Gleeson, Kavangh acted as one of the nobles who routinely changed sides from Scotland to England in the Scottish wars of independence. Kavanagh next acted in Some Mother's Son (1996), a prison film written by Jim Sheridan, and reunited with Brenda Fricker in Pete's Meteor (1998).

After a number of smaller films, Kavanagh acted in another historical epic; the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004), starring Colin Farrell, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins. Kavanagh played the role of "Parmenion", the old general who questions Alexander's actions. After a plot to kill the young leader is foiled, Parmenion is accused of being the mastermind behind it and is murdered. While the film was a triumph overseas, its domestic budget was a fraction of the budget, and received negative reviews for a number of different reasons. After this, Kavanagh acted in Brian De Palma's murder film, The Black Dahlia (2006), which failed at the box office.

Kavanagh has rebounded with the successful television series, The Tudors (2007). Starring fellow Alexander (2004) cast member Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the series plays out the story of England's turmoil in the time of Henry the Eighth and his life as he breaks from the Catholic Church. Kavanagh is the father of actress Rachel Kavanagh.

Career

Kavanagh has acted on the stage, in over twenty films including Pat O'Connor's Cal (1984), Mel Gibson's Braveheart, Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004), and in numerous television programs.

Kavanagh's awards include being nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 1989 for his role in a revival of Juno and the Paycock.

Kavanagh collaborated as vocalist with Paul Brady on the record The Green Crow Caws, a musical celebration of the words of Seán O'Casey.

In 2012 Kavanagh was cast in Michael Hirst's TV series Vikings.

Film

Television