John F. Gavin, born as John Francis Henry Gavin (1875 - 6 January 1938) was an Australian film director, who was one of the early film makers of the 1910s. He was born and died in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and was also known by the nickname "Jack".
Gavin had a theatre background, particularly Outback and Wild West Shows. He is best known for making films about bushrangers such as Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Moonlite, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner. When bushranging films were banned in 1912 he turned to dramatising other true characters, such as Edith Cavell and Charles Fryatt.
Gavin usually worked in collaboration with his wife Agnes, who wrote many of his films, most of which have not survived. One book said of him, "although Gavin was prolific his later surviving work shows that his entrepreneurial talent outweighed any he might have had as director."[1]
He lived for a time in Hollywood, appearing in several films, and claimed he was a friend of Lon Chaney[2] and Stan Laurel.[3]