Irish actor John Kavanagh (born 1946) has performed on stage, in more than 20 motion pictures, including Cal (1984), Braveheart (1995), and Alexander (2004), as well as on television. He gained notoriety most recently for his role as The Seer in the History Channel series Vikings.
In 1989, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his performance in a revival of Juno and the Paycock, among other honors.
Kavanagh trained at the Abbey Theatre before enrolling in the Brendan Smyth Academy when he was 19 years old. He started working for the company in 1967 and remained there for 10 years before going freelance.
John Kavanagh children: Meet Rachel Kavanagh
Jamie Kavanagh and actress Rachel Kavanagh are both John Kavanagh’s children. Anne Bushnell, Kavanagh’s sister, sang jazz, blues, and cabaret music.
In the Irish comedy Paddy (1970), where he played the little part of Willie Egan, Kavanagh made his acting debut. He also had a brief part in the 1970 World War II movie The McKenzie Break, which is about Scottish POWs plotting their escape from a camp. In the 1970s, singer-turned-actor Kavanagh starred as Jacques Brel in the Irish theatrical production of Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (alongside his sister Anne Bushnell). In the subsequent television production, which aired in December 1978, he also had a prominent role.
