Tom Cavanagh

Tom Cavanagh

Thomas Cavanagh, actor (born at Ottawa 26 Oct 1963). Tom Cavanagh spent part of his childhood in Winneba, Ghana, while his parents worked there as educators, and moved to Lennoxville, Que, when his family returned to Canada. He attended the Seminaire de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Que, and earned an honours BA in English literature and biology in 1987 and a BEd in 1988, both from Queen's University in Kingston. While appearing as Danny Zuko in Grease at the Grand Theatre, he was seen by a director who put him in touch with an agent, thus setting him on the path of a professional career in acting. Boy-next-door charm and good looks along with his light comedic touch have contributed to his success.

He studied at the HB Studio while in New York City working in a 1989 revival of the Broadway musical Shenandoah, and soon landed a series of national beer commercials for Labatt's Blue. Cavanagh's first lead in a television series was in a small Canadian show called No Place Like Home (1989), opposite Jennifer DALE and Patricia Gage. In 1991 he secured a small part in the low-budget Canadian film White Light, starring Martha HENRY and directed by Al WAXMAN. In 2003 he joined the cast of the musical, Urinetown.

Cavanagh starred in 4 seasons of the American sitcom Ed (2000-04), in which he played Ed Stevens, a likable New York hotshot lawyer who returns to his hometown in Ohio and buys a bowling alley. Cavanagh co-produced the series and directed some episodes. In 2002, he received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a television series. Other American series include Providence, Love Monkey, Scrubs, Eli Stone, and Trust Me with Eric MCCORMACK. In 2003 he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his lead in the Peabody Award-winning drama about high school bullying, Bang Bang You're Dead. In 2008, he was on Broadway in a revival of Richard Nelson's comedy Some Americans Abroad.

Cavanagh's other film and television credits include the GENIE AWARD-winning Magic in the Water (1995), Northern Lights (1997) with Diane Keaton and Maury CHAYKIN, Two Weeks (2006) starring Sally Fields, the Vancouver-filmed romantic comedy Gray Matters (2006) with Bridget Moynahan and Heather Graham, Laurie Lynd's Breakfast with Scot (2007), where he played a gay ex-hockey enforcer who becomes the guardian of a teenage boy, the miniseries The Capture of the Green River Killer (2008), the television family drama Christmas Dreams (2009) and the animated/live action Yogi Bear 3D (2010) as Park Ranger Smith. He had a guest role in the TV series Royal Pains (2011) and co-stars with Gabrielle MILLER in the made-for-TV movie Trading Christmas (2011).

Tom Cavanagh is involved with the United Nations Foundation's Nothing But Nets™ campaign, which raises funds and awareness to prevent malaria in Africa.