Gavan O'Herlihy


Gavan O'Herlihy is an Irish-American actor. He is best known for his role as the first Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days.

Early life

O'Herlihy was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Irish parents, actor Dan O'Herlihy and his wife, Sandymount native Elsie Bennett.
After graduating from Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, he attended Trinity College, Dublin and as an avid tennis player, he became Irish National Tennis Champion.

Career

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 portrayed, as well as that of the dashing British officer from Virginia Captain Leroy in Sharpe's Eagle.
He 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.
He was cast as the eldest sibling, Chuck Cunningham, on Happy Days. He was eventually replaced by Randolph Roberts until the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas". O'Herlihy did not want to become stuck in television roles, preferring films. He played a warrior in the George Lucas production Willow, directed by his Happy Days brother, Ron Howard. He also appeared in the pilot episode of , "Caretaker", as the Kazon First Mate, Jabin. He also appeared in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman television series.
O'Herlihy was cast as sadistic killer Dan Suggs in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove.
By the 1990s O'Herlihy had permanently relocated to the U.K. where he has preferred to work in the theatre and on television, with guest roles on British Television including Jonathan Creek and Midsomer Murders.
O'Herlihy remains active on film and recent roles have included Sheriff Vaines in The Descent 2 and John Anderson in Queen of the Redwood Mountains, a film based on the American Beat writers, and due for release in 2021.

Selected filmography