Born in Croydon, Cavanagh started work in the motor trade and then for an electrical manufacturer, before training at the Guildhall School of Music with the aim of becoming a concert singer.
During the Second World War, he was attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps, and sometimes acted as compere at shows.
He continued to make regular radio appearances through the 1950s, and performed impressions of many personalities of the period, including Gilbert Harding, Robb Wilton, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Eamonn Andrews.
[5] He made few television appearances, but had a short BBC series in 1955 in which he demonstrated the art of mimicry.
By the 1960s, he had effectively been superseded as a performer by younger impressionists such as Mike Yarwood and Peter Goodwright, but occasionally appeared on children's television programmes.