# Obscure 'actor' question: Helo pilot James W. Gavin **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048 "2007-11-28T16:47:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048/1 "2007-11-28T16:47:28Z")
[James W. Gavin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0310542/) typically played helicopter pilots for 40 years. If you were making a movie, and you needed a chopper pilot, he was your man. I was watching an old movie that had an uncredited helicopter pilot, whom I suspect was Gavin. However, I don’t have copies of any of his other movie appearances to compare to. If you have one of his credits, how 'bout posting a screencap or sending one to me so that I could compare? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048/2 "2007-11-28T17:19:56Z")
[http://www.moviepilots.com/members/gavin.html](http://www.moviepilots.com/members/gavin.html) ---
**Author:** ![99RT10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/9/3da27b/32.png) [@99RT10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/99RT10)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048/3 "2013-03-27T17:34:01Z")
I know this is an old thread, but this man was a prolific helicopter pilot and actor. Seemed like he was a great pilot and lived a great life. ---
**Author:** ![99RT10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/9/3da27b/32.png) [@99RT10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/99RT10)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048/4 "2013-03-27T17:59:13Z")
> **[Sort by Year - Latest Movies and TV Shows With James W. Gavin - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/filmosearch/?role=nm0310542&sort=year&explore=title_type)** > > IMDb's advanced search allows you to run extremely powerful queries over all people and titles in the database. Find exactly what you're looking for! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-actor-question-helo-pilot-james-w-gavin/428048/5 "2013-03-27T18:34:04Z")
Since this thread has been bumped, I’ll add a little more information: There was a character actor James Gavin, in addition to helicopter pilot James W. Gavin. Since they have to have unique acting names, and the character actor was their first, pilot had to make his a little different. But, that’s not the way it always turns out in the credits. Yeah, maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be, but it’s just not the reality. And at the time there were a fair amount of “James Gavin” credits that truly belonged to James W. Gavin. I was looking for a clear shot of his face for some references–since in most appearances, he’s obscured by sunglasses and earphones–as a double check that the correct person was being credited. And with all due respect to aruvqan, his photo is another one that is largely obscured, and not something that would have aided in easy identification. I think they’re mostly straightened out, but I’ll take a look and see if someone’s misplaced a credit since then.