Gavin MacLeod, who appeared on two massively successful television series in the 1970s and 80s, died on Saturday, as first reported by Variety. From 1970 until 1977, MacLeod played the newsroom head writer Murray Slaughter at Minneapolis television station WJM on the witty and highly influential Mary Tyler Moore Show. He quickly followed with the leading role as “Your Captain,” Merrill Stubing, on The Love Boat. That ship sailed from 1977 to 1986, with five additional post-finale specials, the last one in 1990. He continued to make appearances on shows like That 70s Show, JAG, and The King of Queens into the aughts. He was 90 years old.
MacLeod was born Allan Sea in Mount Kisco, New York. His stage name was inspired, in part, because he said people found his last name “too confusing.” After some time in the Air Force he moved to New York City to become an actor. A small role in Robert Wise’s 1958 prison drama I Want To Live! caught the eye of Blake Edwards, who cast him in the pilot of Peter Gunn, two episodes of Mr. Lucky, then the World War II comedy Operation Petticoat, the Bing Crosby-Fabian generation gap picture High Time, and the swingin’ 60s farce The Party.
In between he had a number of other television gigs that foreshadowed his later big hits. First was a guest shot on The Dick Van Dyke Show, where he initially worked with Mary Tyler Moore, and the second was as a series regular on McHale’s Navy, which perhaps acclimatized viewers to the concept of Gavin MacLeod at sea.
At the age of 40, after filming the Clint Eastwood-led WWII-era heist picture Kelly’s Heroes, he was invited to audition for the pilot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but for the role of the gruff editor-in-chief Lou Grant. MacLeod asked to read for the part of the kind-hearted Murray instead, something of a big brother to the Mary Tyler Moore’s Mary Richards.
Ed Asner, who landed the part of Lou Grant, tweeted some extremely heartfelt messages when news of MacLeod broke, including one which read “Betty! It’s just you and me now.”
The comment from the 91-year-old Asner was addressed to MTM co-star Betty White, age 99. With Moore, MacLeod, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper, Georgia Engel, and Cloris Leachman all gone, they are the last two series regulars still with us. But if this particular show ever taught anything, it’s that death is a natural part of life.
After seven seasons of groundbreaking television, MacLeod then weighed anchor on Aaron Spelling’s campy, guest star-happy romantic comedy series The Love Boat. His first appearance was in the third TV movie pilot, as the cheery Captain Merrill Stubing, alongside Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Lauren Tewes, and Jill Whelan. The upbeat show revolved around multiple storylines of families and lovers overcoming obstacles before returning from Puerto Vallarta. The series was actually based on a nonfiction book Love Boats by a former cruise director turned astrologer named Jeraldine Saunders.
Looking at the complete list of Love Boat guest stars, from Willie Aames to Adrian Zmed, is absolutely staggering. Some that really stick out include Olivia de Havilland, Helen Hayes, Lana Turner, and, quite memorably, Andy Warhol.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 1997, MacLeod stood up for the critically derided series, especially after seven years on the highly regarded Mary Tyler Moore Show. “I loved it,” MacLeod told the magazine. “I said: ‘This is gonna take people away from the everyday burdens of life. It’ll give them something to dream about.’”
MacLeod was remembered warmly by those who worked with him and knew him, including Maureen McCormick, Marie Osmond, Joely Fisher, Don Most, Nancy Sinatra, and the official social media arm of Princess Cruises.
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