| Birth Date: | 21 November 1942 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1976 - present |
Michael Cavanaugh (born November 21, 1942) is an American actor. Cavanaugh was born in New York City, and has performed in more than one hundred films since 1976. His television guest-credits include The West Wing, Joe Bash, Starman, Hunter, Monk and 24.
He also served in the United States Navy, enlisting following graduation from high school, serving for three years while stationed in Hawaii.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | The Enforcer | Lalo | ||
| 1977 | Over-Under Sideways-Down | Rich | ||
| 1977 | Heroes | Peanuts | ||
| 1977 | The Gauntlet | Assistant District Attorney John Feyderspiel | ||
| 1978 | Gray Lady Down | Pete | Uncredited | |
| 1979 | The Lady in Red | Undercover Cop | ||
| 1980 | Any Which Way You Can | Patrick Scarfe | ||
| 1982 | Comeback | Manager | ||
| 1982 | Forced Vengeance | Stan Raimondi | ||
| 1983 | Heart Like a Wheel | NHRA Boss | ||
| 1986 | Iron Eagle | Disclipinary panel colonel | Uncredited | |
| 1988 | Street of Dreams | Lieutenant Marcus | ||
| 1988 | Two to Tango | Dean Boyle | ||
| 1990 | Full Fathom Five | Garvin | ||
| 1990 | Kid | Walters | ||
| 1994 | A Passion to Kill | Robinson | ||
| 1995 | Illegal in Blue | Lieutenant Lyle | Direct-to-video | |
| 1996 | Night Hunter | Roy Ward | ||
| 1996 | Crash Dive | Captain Lange | Direct-to-video | |
| 1997 | Strategic Command | Vice President Charles Baker | ||
| 1997 | Inferno | Victor Grayson | ||
| 1998 | Black Thunder | General Barnes | ||
| 1999 | In Dreams | Judge | Voice | |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Dr. Malcolm Keogh | ||
| 1999 | Romp | Norman Fase | ||
| 2000 | Dancing in September | Harbor | ||
| 2000 | Escape Under Pressure | Captain | ||
| 2000 | Militia | Colonel Jim Donaman, Retired | ||
| 2001 | Ablaze | Chief Sam Davis | ||
| 2001 | Thy Neighbor's Wife | Ian McMillan | Direct-to-video | |
| 2001 | Raptor | Colonel Vandamar | Direct-to-video | |
| 2002 | Collateral Damage | Chairman Paul Devereaux | ||
| 2002 | Stranded | Admiral Ferrell | Direct-to-video | |
| 2002 | Red Dragon | Forensic Dentist | ||
| 2004 | Chance | Mike | Short film | |
| 2003 | Holes | Judge Austin Gorg | ||
| 2006 | Down the P.C.H. | Michael O'Hara | ||
| 2006 | All the King's Men | Mr. Peyton | ||
| 2007 | Live! | Wilken | ||
| 2007 | Who's Your Caddy? | John Marshall | ||
| 2010 | Peep World | Brad Thompkins | ||
| 2016 | Rules Don't Apply | Methodist Minister |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Visions | Rich | Episode: "Over-Under, Sideways-Down" | |
| 1978 | Kojak | Sonny Canavere | Episode: "Justice for All" | |
| 1978 | Doctor Scorpion | Terry Batliner | TV movie | |
| 1979 | Dallas | O'Neill | Episode: "The Red File: Part 1" | |
| 1979 | Portrait of a Stripper | Steve Vector | TV movie | |
| 1979 | 11th Victim | Steve | TV movie | |
| 1980 | The Rockford Files | John Traynor | Episode: "Deadlock in Parma" | |
| 1980 | Charlie's Angels | Anthony Felber | Episode: "Harrigan's Angel" | |
| 1980 | Belle Starr | Jesse James | TV movie | |
| 1980 | Gideon's Trumpet | Stocker | TV movie | |
| 1980 | A Rumor of War | Captain Lake | TV miniseries | |
| 1980 | Diff'rent Strokes | Woody | Episode: "The Bank Job" | |
| 1981 | CHiPs | Tom Dempsey | Episode: "Home Fires Burning" | |
| 1981 | Miracle on Ice | George | TV movie | |
| 1981 | Vegas | Vance | Episode: "The Killing" | |
| 1981 | The Texas Rangers | Bobby Joe Ames | TV movie | |
| 1981 | Fitz and Bones | Joe | Episode: "Terror at Newsline 3" | |
| 1982 | One Day at a Time | Gunman | Episode: "Stick 'em Up" | |
| 1983 | T. J. Hooker | Carl Hines | Episode: "The Mumbler" | |
| 1983 | Tales of the Gold Monkey | Avery Thiel | Episode: "A Distant Shout of Thunder" | |
| 1983 | Blood Feud | U.S. Marshal | TV movie | |
| 1983 | Matt Houston | Byron Stevens | ||
| 1983 | For Love and Honor | Pelham | Episode: "For Love and Honor (Pilot) | |
| 1983 | Night Partners | Roy Henderson | TV movie | |
| 1983 | The Mississippi | Episode: "Town Without Pity" | ||
| 1984 | The A-Team | Joseph King | Episode: "Deadly Maneuvers" | |
| 1984 | Hunter | Captain Cain | Episode: "Hunter" (pilot episode) | |
| 1984 | Matt Houston | George Davis | Episode: “Eyewitness” | |
| 1985 | Highway to Heaven | Coach | Episode: "As Difficult as ABC" | |
| 1985 | A Death in California | Gene Brooks | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Airwolf | Patrick Stoner | Episode: "Fortune Teller" | |
| 1985 | Amazing Stories | John Lefferts - Storekeeper | Episode: "Alamo Jobe" | |
| 1984–1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Lieutenant Johnson / Detective #1 | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Hostage Flight | Bill Orfman | TV movie | |
| 1985 | Final Jeopardy | Garage Attendant | TV movie | |
| 1986 | MacGyver | Michael Donahue / Viking | Episode: "Countdown" | |
| 1986 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Gerald Falken | Episode: "The Triumvirate" | |
| 1986 | Joe Bash | Lieutenant Pendleton | 2 episodes | |
| 1986 | Second Serve | Gene Scott | TV movie | |
| 1985–1986 | Santa Barbara | District Attorney Tony Patterson | 12 episodes | |
| 1986–1987 | Starman | George Fox | 22 episodes | |
| 1987 | Our House | Mac Hoover | 2 episodes | |
| 1988 | Promised a Miracle | Detective | TV movie | |
| 1988 | Street of Dreams | Lieutenant Marcus | TV movie | |
| 1989 | L.A. Law | Paul Richardson | Episode: "The Accidental Jurist" | |
| 1989 | Wolf | Episode: "Wolf" | ||
| 1990 | Tour of Duty | Major General Proctor | Episode: "Three Cheers for the Orange, White and Blue" | |
| 1990 | Captain Robert DeSoto | Episode: "Tin Man" | ||
| 1990 | People Like Us | Michael Jordan | TV movie | |
| 1991 | Held Hostage: The Sis and Jerry Levin Story | Kaplan | TV movie | |
| 1991 | Matlock | Al Brown / Marvin Latham | Episode: "The Arsonist" | |
| 1991 | Dark Shadows | Sheriff George Patterson / Andres Du Pres | ||
| 1991 | Marilyn and Me | Walter Winchell | TV movie | |
| 1991 | False Arrest | Dr. Chandler | TV movie | |
| 1992 | Episode: "D.B. Cooper/McCoy Skyjacking" | |||
| 1992 | Just Deserts | Campbell Cunningham | TV movie | |
| 1992 | Somebody's Daughter | Aarons | TV movie | |
| 1992 | Angel Street | TV movie | ||
| 1993 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Craig Harding | Episode: "Bad Water" | |
| 1993 | Sworn to Vengeance | Pete Hall | TV movie | |
| 1993 | The Fire Next Time | Seth | Episode #1.2 | |
| 1993 | Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story | TV movie | ||
| 1993 | Donato and Daughter | Vinnie Stellino | TV movie | |
| 1993 | The X-Files | Sheriff Jack Withers | Episode: "Conduit" | |
| 1993 | Dr. Carlton | Episode: "Smart Kids" | ||
| 1994 | Renegade | Police Sergeant Ben Clancy | Episode: "Once Burned, Twice Chey" | |
| 1994 | Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story | Evy Scotvold | TV movie | |
| 1994 | ER | Suzanne's Dad | Episode: "24 Hours" | |
| 1995 | Vanishing Son | Marcek | 5 episodes | |
| 1995 | Walter Wanger | TV movie | ||
| 1995 | Eye of the Stalker | Judge Warren Curtis | TV movie | |
| 1995 | Telamon Doctor | Video game | ||
| 1996 | High Tide | Episode: "Sins of the Mother" | ||
| 1996 | Pacific Blue | Curtis Bilson | Episode: "The Phoenix" | |
| 1996 | The Burning Zone | Pilot | Episode: "Night Flight" | |
| 1996 | NYPD Blue | Len | Episode: "Caulksmanship" | |
| 1997 | The Secret World of Alex Mack | Dean | Episode: "The Switch" | |
| 1997 | L.A. Heat | Timothy Scully | Episode: "Green Justice" | |
| 1997 | Breast Men | Harry | ||
| 1998 | The Practice | Primate Center Director | Episode: "Food Chains" | |
| 1997–1998 | Dennis Grassi | 10 episodes | ||
| 1998 | Nothing Sacred | Episode: "Sleeping Dogs" | ||
| 1999 | Mutiny | |||
| 2000 | Any Day Now | Episode: "Life" | ||
| 2000 | The West Wing | Pharmaceutical Executive | Episode: "In This White House" | |
| 2001 | Warden of Red Rock | Senator Paul Townsend | TV movie | |
| 2001 | When Billie Beat Bobby | Brother John | TV movie | |
| 2001 | Epoch | Williams | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Push, Nevada | 3 episodes | ||
| 2002 | The Agency | Mr. Barnes | Episode: "Home Grown" | |
| 2003 | Mister Sterling | Episode: "Human Error" | ||
| 2003 | Boston Public | Judge Boilings | Episode: "Chapter Sixty-Seven" | |
| 2003 | Carnivàle | Talkative Hobo | Episode: "Pick a Number" | |
| 2004 | 24 | Joseph O'Laughlin | ||
| 2004 | Las Vegas | Heyman | Episode: "Blood Is Thicker" | |
| 2005 | Higglytown Heroes | Tailor Hero | Episode: "Wayne's Ripping Adventure/Meet Eubie's Cousin" | |
| 2005 | Point Pleasant | Harland | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2005 | Just Legal | Episode: "Pilot" | ||
| 2005 | E-Ring | U.S. Ambassador: Suriname | Episode: "Weekend Pass" | |
| 2005 | Medium | Defense Attorney | Episode: "Still Life" | |
| 2006 | Bones | Senator Alan Corman | Episode: "The Woman in the Garden" | |
| 2006 | Cold Case | David Poole | Episode: "The Hen House" | |
| 2005–2007 | Monk | Bobby Davenport | 2 episodes | |
| 2007 | The Unit | Committee Chair Locke | Episode: "Pandemonium: Part 1" | |
| 2007 | Shark | Judge Newman | 2 episodes | |
| 2008 | Eli Stone | District Attorney Lowell Grayson | Episode: "Something to Save" | |
| 2008 | Without a Trace | Richard Conlon | Episode: "Last Call" | |
| 2009 | FlashForward | SETI Chairman Warren Moore | Episode: "Gimme Some Truth" | |
| 2003–2011 | The Young and the Restless | Judge Phelps / Franklin J. Becker | 11 episodes | |
| 2017 | Back to Love | Roger | TV movie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Watch | The Watch Maker | Episode: "The Gift of Time" | |
| 2020 | Smartphone Theatre | various | 3 episodes (anthology series) |