Michael Gavin (Rescue Me)

Jonathon Michael Gavin is the patriarch of the Gavin family on the FX drama Rescue Me. The character is played by Charles Durning

Michael (earlier called John) and his wife Martha have six children together (Tommy, Johnny, Maggie, Rosemary, Timo and an as of yet unnamed sibling, most likely a brother). Michael also had a son named Liam Murphy with his mistress of 36 years a fact he kept hidden until Liam tracked Tommy down and told him. Michael suspected he was also the father of his mistress's older daughter Mariel but this was later revealed to be incorrect after Mariel had a DNA test done.

Mr. Gavin is a retired firefighter. A man who has embraced the bachelor lifestyle after leaving his wife Martha, who eventually passed on. He then remarried an elderly Korean woman named Jenny Ng who loves cats. Later in season 2, when his second wife dies and is partially eaten by the cats, he believes he has struck it rich. However, his wife left all of her money to her cats, leaving him with only $50,000 dollars. In season 3, he is showing signs of possible Alzheimer's, which is worrying Tommy. In the beginning of Season 3, he moves in with Tommy and is taken care of by Tommy, Lou, and Sheila. At the end of Season 3, he moves in with Lou's uncle, in whom he finds a kindred spirit. Lou's uncle and Mr. Gavin served together in the FDNY.

In Season 4, Michael joins Tommy and the other Gavins in staying sober and even makes a good run of it, although he admits that he cannot stop thinking about drinking and women. At a minor-league baseball game with Tommy, Michael quietly passes away in his seat.

His ghost however, continues to appear in Seasons 5, 6, and 7.