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John Kavanagh is a notable yet often overlooked Irish character actor. Although little information is available about him, he has appeared in numerous well-known films and television shows alongside a diverse range of actors.
Kavanagh started his career in the Irish comedy Paddy (1970), playing a minor role as "Willie Egan." That same year, he took on another small part in the World War II film The McKenzie Break (1970), which centers on a POW camp in Scotland where prisoners plan an escape.
For the next twelve years, Kavanagh did not appear in any films but remained active in theater. He eventually returned to the screen with the film The Ballroom of Romance (1982), where he shared a romantic storyline with acclaimed actress Brenda Fricker. This was followed by the short film Attracta (1983) and the TV movie The Country Girls (1983), which starred Sam Neill.
One of Kavanagh’s most notable film roles came next in the Irish movie Cal (1984), starring Helen Mirren and John Lynch. The story follows a young IRA member (Lynch) trying to leave the organization, who begins a romance with the widow of one of the IRA’s victims (Mirren).
After Cal, Kavanagh appeared in various films and TV series, including the action film The Joyriders (1999), the crime drama Bellman and True (1987), the independent film In the Border Country (1991), and the thriller The Fantasist (1986). His career gained momentum in the mid-1990s, acting alongside Mia Farrow and Jim Broadbent in John Irvin’s Widows' Peak (1994). He also guest-starred as "Father Michael Curtis," a holy man, in the Sharpe series starring Sean Bean and Hugh Fraser. In 1995, Kavanagh featured in the critically acclaimed epic Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, alongside Angus Macfadyen and Brendan Gleeson. He played a noble who frequently switched allegiances between Scotland and England during the Scottish wars of independence. The film was a major success, winning Best Picture and Best Director.
Following Braveheart, Kavanagh appeared in Some Mother's Son (1996), a prison drama penned by Jim Sheridan, and reunited with Brenda Fricker in Pete's Meteor (1998). He continued acting through the late 1990s and into the new millennium, taking on various projects. Among them was the historical epic Alexander (2004), directed by Oliver Stone and starring Colin Farrell, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Hopkins. Kavanagh portrayed "Parmenion," an elder general who questions Alexander’s decisions. After a plot to assassinate Alexander is uncovered, Parmenion is accused of masterminding it and is killed. While the film performed well internationally, it received mixed reviews and had a limited domestic release. Kavanagh later appeared in Brian De Palma's murder mystery The Black Dahlia (2006), which was unsuccessful at the box office.
Kavanagh found renewed success with the television series The Tudors (2007), which starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers—also from Alexander (2004)—and chronicled England’s turbulent history during Henry VIII’s reign and his break from the Catholic Church.
