Tom Cavanagh

Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in '' Ed'' (2000–2004), '' Love Monkey'' (2006) and '' Trust Me'' (2009), and recurring roles on '' Providence'' and '' Scrubs''. From 2014 to 2023, he portrayed Harrison Wells and Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash on The CW television series ''The Flash''; Cavanagh also directed several episodes of ''The Flash''. In 2023, he became the host of ''Hey Yahoo!'' on GSN.

Early life

Thomas Cavanagh was born on October 26, 1963 (although some sources state 1968) in Ottawa, Ontario, to a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. Cavanagh moved with his family to Winneba, a small city in Ghana when he was a child.

In his teens, the family moved to Lennoxville, Quebec when his father became the Academic Dean of Champlain College. He attended the Séminaire de Sherbrooke, where he studied in French and played basketball for the Barons. He later studied at Champlain College in Lennoxville at the CEGEP level. While attending Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, he became interested in theatre and music and played ice hockey and varsity basketball. He graduated in 1987 with degrees in English, biology and education.

Career

Commercial credits

Cavanagh acted in his native Canada for many years, appearing on television dramas such as ''Jake and the Kid'' in the late 1990s, and television commercials, appearing for Oh Henry! chocolate bars and Labatt Blue Light beer commercials in the 1990s and for CIBC.

Broadway roles

In 1989, he was cast in the Broadway revival of '' Shenandoah'' and in 2003 he starred as Bobby Strong in the Broadway cast of ''Urinetown''. Other stage credits include productions of ''A Chorus Line'', ''Cabaret'', ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', and '' Grease''. He appeared in the 2008 production of ''Some Americans Abroad'' at Second Stage Theatre in New York City.

Television performances

After gaining notice for his recurring role as Doug the Dog Guy in the NBC television program '' Providence'', Cavanagh was cast as the title character in the NBC program '' Ed''. Cavanagh received a Golden Globe nomination and a TV Guide Award for his work on ''Ed'', which ran for four seasons beginning in October 2000 and concluding in February 2004.

Cavanagh guest starred on the sitcom '' Scrubs'' where he played Dan Dorian, the brother of Zach Braff's character. He made six subsequent appearances in the series, starting with 2002's " My Big Brother" and culminating with the eighth season finale.

In 2005, Cavanagh filmed the pilot '' Love Monkey'', with Jason Priestley, Judy Greer and Larenz Tate. The show was selected by CBS as a midseason replacement and debuted on January 17, 2006. ''Love Monkey'' was given an eight-episode order, but only three aired on CBS before the show was placed on indefinite hiatus due to low ratings. VH1 bought all eight episodes which was played in the entirety in the spring of 2006.

He starred in the Lifetime Movie Network television miniseries '' The Capture Of The Green River Killer'' in which he portrayed King County sheriff David Reichert. In March 2006, Cavanagh filmed ''My Ex-Life'', a comedy pilot for CBS about a divorced couple who remain friends. The pilot featured ''Lost'' actress Cynthia Watros as his character's ex-wife. CBS did not select the show for its fall 2006 schedule. Cavanagh portrayed the lead role Nick Snowden (the heir to the Santa Claus identity) in the made-for-TV movie ''Snow'' in 2004.

In 2008, Cavanagh appeared in the short-lived ABC series ''Eli Stone'', playing the father of the title character. From January to April 2009, Cavanagh starred in the television drama '' Trust Me'', co-starring Eric McCormack, which aired on TNT until cancellation due to low ratings.

Cavanagh hosted ''Stories from the Vaults'' on Smithsonian Networks from 2008 to 2009. He made a guest appearance in the mid-season premiere of the USA Network show ''Royal Pains'' as former professional golfer Jack O'Malley. In 2012, he starred in Lifetime's '' A Killer Among Us'' remake.

From 2014 to 2021, Cavanagh was a series regular on The CW's live-action television series ''The Flash'', portraying Harrison Wells; most notably Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash impersonating the Earth-1 version in conjunction with several different doppelgängers, such as Earth-2's Harry, Earth-19 writer H. R., Earth-221 detective Sherloque, and explorer Nash (also known as Pariah). He was a regular cast member for seven seasons, and made guest appearances in the final two seasons. In 2023, Cavanagh began hosting the game show '' Hey Yahoo!''.

Film performances

Cavanagh starred in the 2002 film '' Bang Bang You're Dead''. Prior to ''Ed'', Cavanagh's film appearances were mainly in supporting roles. After that series ended, he had his first starring role as an escaped convict in the thriller '' Heart of the Storm''. In 2005, he starred in the romantic comedy ''Alchemy'', opposite Sarah Chalke; in 2006, he appeared in another romantic comedy, '' Gray Matters''.

In 2006, Cavanagh began filming '' Breakfast with Scot'', in which he plays a gay retired hockey player who becomes an adoptive father to a young boy. The film, released in 2007, drew attention as the first gay-themed film ever to win approval from a major league sports franchise to use its real name and logo; Cavanagh's character formerly played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2007 he starred in the second installment of the direct-to-DVD ''Raw Feed'' horror film series from Warner Home Video, '' Sublime''. In 2008, Cavanagh starred in the Crime/Drama '' The Capture of the Green River Killer''. He also starred as Ranger Smith in the feature film '' Yogi Bear'' (2010).

Podcast

From 2010 until 2016, Cavanagh co-hosted the podcast ''Mike and Tom Eat Snacks'', with his ''Ed'' castmate Michael Ian Black, on the Nerdist Podcast Network. They re-launched the podcast in August, 2021 on the Starburns Audio podcast network.

Personal life

Cavanagh married Maureen Grise, an image editor for ''Sports Illustrated'', on July 31, 2004, in a Catholic ceremony on Nantucket, Massachusetts. The couple has two daughters and two sons.

Cavanagh ran the 2006 New York City Marathon.

In summer 2008, he founded the Cavanagh Classic, an annual celebrity basketball tournament in Rucker Park in Harlem to raise money and awareness for Nothing But Nets. The charity's goal is to combat malaria by sending mosquito nets to families that need them. Cavanagh travelled to Rwanda on a March 2009 United Nations Foundation trip to distribute the nets and educate the recipients in their use.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

As a director

* '' Ed'' (2000–2004) – three episodes
* ''The Flash'' (2017–2018) – episodes: " The Once and Future Flash", " Elongated Journey Into Night" and the 100th episode, " What's Past Is Prologue".
* ''Superman & Lois'' (2021–2023) – two episodes: "Last Sons of Krypton", "Closer".

References

External links

*

''Two Weeks'' movie site

''Mike and Tom Eat Snacks''

Biography
in ''Playbill''


Variety.com article about ''Love Monkey''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Tom
1963 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Ottawa
Canadian podcasters
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian Roman Catholics
Canadian television directors
Living people
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States