Gavin Packard, The Lesser-known Actor Who Showed Ripped Physique Way Before It Was A Trend

Bollywood’s leading men are mostly defined by a chiselled physique and their perfectly toned abs and muscles. Since the late 90s, it has almost become a prerequisite to gaining a foothold in the film industry. Leading men like Salman Khan, Suniel Shetty and Sanjay Dutt are believed to have started the trend in the 90s while it was later carried forward by the likes of Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff and Varun Dhawan. But it will amaze you to know that the trend of having a killer body was not started by a hero but by a dreaded villain of the 90s. We are talking about the lesser-known Gavin Packard, an actor of Irish American descent who made a career out of playing henchmen to the main villain in Hindi films, often having elaborate fight scenes with the hero.

His grandfather John Packard was an Irish American who chose to reside in Bangalore after serving in the US Army. Gavin’s father married a Konkani woman. Gavin, who won both state and national awards for bodybuilding, was renowned for his physique. He often showed off his physique during his fight scenes in movies, way before Salman Khan started the trend of bare-chested fights.

While working in Mahesh Bhatt’s film Sadak, lead actor Sanjay Dutt was impressed by Gavin’s physique and decided to get trained by him. Gavin also trained Suniel Shetty and has also been a personal trainer for Shera, Salman Khan’s bodyguard.

Despite appearing in a series of films offering tough competition to Suniel Shetty, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar in fight scenes, Gavin did not get the recognition he wanted. Most of the audience still knows him by face instead of his face. Reportedly, this put him through depression and he took refuge in alcohol.

The actor suffered a bike accident in 2012 which left him bedridden for the rest of his life. On May 18, the same year., Packard passed away from a respiratory condition aged just 47. The following day, he was laid to rest at the St. Andrews Burial Grounds in Bandra. Despite his extensive and noteworthy filmography, there was no one from the film industry at the funeral. Sanjay Dutt is the godfather of Gavin’s daughter Kamille Packard.