Gavan O'Herlihy
| Gavan O'Herlihy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 April 1954 Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1973–present |
Gavan O'Herlihy (born 29 April 1954) is an Irish actor.
Early life and career
O'Herlihy was born in Dublin, the son of Elsa Bennett and Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy.[1] In his youth, he was an avid tennis player, and became Irish National Tennis Champion. He has over thirty screen credits to his name, most of them in villainous or antagonistic roles such as Never Say Never Again, Superman III, Death Wish 3 and The Last Outlaw. His role as Airk Thaughbaer in the 1988 fantasy Willow is one of the few heroic roles that the burly, fair-haired Gavan has managed to get, as well as that of the dashing British officer from Virginia Captain Leroy in Sharpe's Eagle. He has also appeared in Rich Man, Poor Man and Tales From The Crypt. In 1994, he starred as John Garrideb in The Mazarin Stone from Granada TV's Sherlock Holmes series. The events of the story were rewritten and merged with The Adventure of the Three Garridebs.[2]
He was cast as the eldest sibling, Chuck Cunningham, on Happy Days. The part was small and was eventually written out: the character was explained to have left home to attend college, and was never mentioned again. O'Herlihy did not want to become stuck in television roles, preferring films. Gavan appeared in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager, "Caretaker", as the Kazon First Mate, Jabin.[2] He also appeared in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman television series.
Gavan was cast as sadistic killer Dan Suggs in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove.
| Preceded by Ric Carrott |
Charles "Chuck" Cunningham Actor January 15 - March 26, 1974 |
Succeeded by Randolph Roberts |
Selected filmography
- The California Kid (1974) - Tom
- A Death in Canaan (1978) - Father Mark
- A Wedding (1978) - Wilson Briggs
- We'll Meet Again (1982) - Captain "Red"Berwash
- Superman III (1983) - Brad Wilson
- Never Say Never Again (1983) - Jack Petachi
- The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) - Conrad E. Perkins
- Death Wish 3 (1985) - Manny Fraker
- Willow (1988) - Airk Thaughbaer
- Space Riders (1989) - Ron Harris
- The Last Outlaw (1993) - Marshal Sharp
- The Shooter (1995) - Dick Powell
- Prince Valiant (1997) - King Thane
- Top of the World (1997) - Lieutenant Logan
- Command Approved (2000) - Arms Dealer
- Butterfly Man (2002) - Bill Kincaid
- Seven Days of Grace (2006) - MacNab
- The Descent Part 2 (2009) - Vaines
References
- ↑ Dan O'Herlihy Biography (1919-)
- 1 2 "Gavan O'Herlihy". IMDB. Retrieved 16 August 2012.