Gavin MacLeod, star of ‘Love Boat’ and ‘Mary Tyler Moore’, dies at 90
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gavin McLeod, who played the role of an intelligent-cracking news writer in the 1970s classic American sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and the hospitable cruise ship captain on "The Love Boat," turned 90 on Saturday. Died at the age of
His nephew, Mark C, confirmed his death to Variety. No cause of death was stated, but McLeod's health declined in recent months.
The bald McLeod often played the villain on TV before being cast in the scathing comic role of Murray Sloter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", which ran on CBS from 1970–1977 and was one of the most respected shows of its decade, Which won 29. Emmy Award.
After "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", McLeod was signed on to ABC's "The Love Boat" starring Captain Meryl Stubbing, which lasted 10 seasons from 1977–1987.
The series, which featured guests in each episode as passengers seeking romance on a cruise ship, was not a favorite of critics - a New York Times reviewer once called it "a terrible porridge" - but it Was often entertaining and popular with the audience.
"I remember the TV reviewers saying, 'How can you do it?" McLeod told Entertainment Weekly in 1997, referring to his jump from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" to "The Love Boat". "But I loved it. I said, 'This is going to take people away from the everyday burdens of life. It will give them something to dream about.'"
McLeod also had a regular role in the World War II situation comedy "McHale's Navy" from 1962 to 1964, but often played bad guys like the character named Big Chicken in the crime drama "Hawaii Five-O".
He appeared in supporting roles in several major films, including "Kelly's Heroes" (1970), with Clint Eastwood and Tele Savalas, and "Operation Petticoat" (1959) with Carrie Grant and Tony Curtis.
He was born as Alan C. on February 28, 1931, in Mount Kisco, New York. For his show business career, he changed his first name to Gavin because he liked it and his last name was given to McLeod as a tribute to his college acting teacher.
"I was a young child with a bald head, so I only played pimps, miscreants, female molesters and child molesters," McLeod told People magazine in 1978.
He changed forever after being cast on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" as a news writer for a fictional Minneapolis TV station, which included Moore, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Betty White, Valerie Harper and Chloris Leachman Were.
Some of his character's best moments come in conversation with Knight's fond anchor Ted Baxter and White's acidic and human-starved "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens, who rarely gives an opportunity to comment on Sloter's baldness.
On "The Love Boat", he led a cast that included Fred Grandy, who later served as a member of the US Congress, Bernie Koppel, Ted Lang, Lauren Tewes, and Jill Whelan. As Captain Stubbing, he wore a white captain's hat and white captain's attire, often with white shorts.
The show was inhabited by an endless stream of guest stars, from some of the most forgettable actors of the time to some of the biggest names in Hollywood's past.
McLeod battled alcoholism during his career and became a devout Christian in 2009, starring in the Christian-themed film "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry".
He had four children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and three stepchildren from his second marriage.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Bill Trott and Daniel Wallis)