For his recurring role on the sitcom Murphy Brown, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

His film credits include No Deposit, No Return (1976), Airport '77 (1977), Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978), A Christmas Story (1983), Happy Hell Night (1992), and Billy Madison (1995).

Despite playing a significant role in the baseball film The Natural (1984), due to a contract dispute, McGavin was uncredited for his portrayal of a shady bookie, Gus Sands.

[1] As an adolescent, McGavin's father boarded him with a family at their farm on Puget Sound near Tacoma while he traveled for work.

Shortly afterwards, he moved to New York City and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio under teacher Sanford Meisner.

After his departure, Reynolds told TV Guide: "Darren McGavin is going to be a very disappointed man on the first Easter after his death.

With McGavin playing a reporter who discovers the activities of a modern-day vampire on the loose in Las Vegas, the film became the highest-rated made-for-TV movie in history at that time; when the sequel The Night Strangler (1973) was also a strong success, a subsequent television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) was made.

Early promises were never fulfilled, and McGavin expressed concern over script quality and lack of network commitment toward promoting the show.

His concerns appeared justified, as the series drifted into camp humor and the production values declined in later episodes.

Between 1976 and 1978, McGavin also co-starred in several Disney movies, including 1976's No Deposit, No Return and 1978's Hot Lead and Cold Feet.

He portrayed a middle class father in 1940s Hohman, Indiana, who was endearing despite his use of profanity and unfortunate taste for kitsch.

[26] McGavin co-starred with Adam Sandler in Billy Madison (1995), playing the titular character's hotel-magnate father.

[14][28] McGavin also narrated a number of audiobooks, notably the Robert Ludlum Jason Bourne Trilogy and John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series.

[36] Wife Kathie Browne-McGavin is buried at another local cemetery just 6 miles away at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles County, California.