In Memory of Gavin MacLeod ('The Mary Tyler Moore Show'/'The Love Boat'): 3 Years After His Death

Photo byClassic TV Preservation Society

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes and commentary by the actors mentioned are from direct interviews conducted by the author.]

Overview

Actor Gavin MacLeod, who died at age 90 in 2021, enjoyed great success on television with two long-running hit series: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-1977), and The Love Boat (ABC, 1977-1986).

On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, MacLeod played newsroom writer Murray Slaughter. On The Love Boat, he portrayed Captain Merrill Stubing.

MacLeod's on-screen Love Boat crew included Ted Lange as head bartender Isaac Washington, Bernie Kopell as Dr. "Doc" Adam Bricker, Fred Grandy as Ship's Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith, Lauren Tewes as cruise director Julie McCoy and Jill Whelan as Vicky Stubing, the captain's daughter.

"This show is going to be a hit," is what Lange recalled MacLeod telling him and the rest of the cast during the first week of filming. "This show will make people feel good."

"Gavin saw right away what we couldn't see," Lange said. "And he was enthusiastic about being there. Whereas we all wanted to play more drama-oriented roles, he told us, 'This show has love and romance, and everything turns out all right in the end.' And we were like, 'But that's not reality!' And he said, 'Don't you worry. You don't know it now, but you watch. When this show gets on the air, it's going to explode!' And he was 100 percent right."

Lange also recalled how differently Captain Stubing was initially envisioned by the show's producers. Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer had overseen Love, American Style, a precursor of sorts to Boat that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. "They tried to make the captain a little more gruff," Lange said. "But Gavin wasn't the gruff type. He was a charming guy. He told them, 'You guys don't need to get comedy out of me being a badass. You don't need a solid figure where he puts everybody down. That's not necessarily how a captain runs his ship."

Based on the kinds of characters MacLeod had played before being cast as Murray, Spelling and Goldberg had assumed he'd bring a similar portrayal to The Love Boat. Lange explained, "Gav played all those villains and drug-pushers on shows like Hawaii Five-0 and Perry Mason. And they were looking for him to do the same kind of thing... just as [the producers] had first pictured him as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Backstory

Gavin MacLeod had been a journeyman actor before he became Murray on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, appearing in a few features and on multiple series each year, ranging from McHale's Navy (seventy-three episodes) to one-offs on such diverse fare as Steve Canyon, Manhunt, The Munsters, Combat! and Ironside.

"But then, about the second year of The Love Boat," Ted Lange explained, "when they kept trying to write the captain as more of an authoritative figure, Gavin's heart wasn't in it. So the producers eventually changed their minds, and Captain Stubing became the captain that we all came to know and love. He was understanding with the crew, and he had words of wisdom. He could be charming and still be an authority figure. And when they brought in Jill to play his daughter, it was perfect. He had the balance of portraying a father and he was a father to the rest of us, too."

"Gavin knew what he was doing," Lange added. "There's a protocol to being a regular on a hit show, and he knew this. He noticed that Fred and I had a little bit of a swelled head. We were making money. We had steady employment. And we were getting a little full of ourselves because we were on a hit show. So he and Bernie took us aside and said, 'Look — this is our home. Guest stars are coming to our house and it is our job to make them feel comfortable, to see if they want tea or coffee, doughnuts or cookies. It is our job to approach the guest stars, shake their hands, and say, 'Welcome to The Love Boat. Thank you for doing our show.'"

"He was just a gem of a guy," Lange concluded.

More Love

After The Love Boat ended its short-lived original run in 1986, four special episodes followed, as did the 1990 telefilm The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage. In 1998, Gavin MacLeod and his crew made an appearance on the "Reunion" episode of a short-lived, reboot called The Love Boat: The Next Wave. He returned to making guest appearances on TV shows as diverse as Oz, The King of Queens, JAG, and That '70s Show, and in 2008 brought his born-again faith to a starring role in The Secrets of Jonathan Perry, an inspirational feature film. He was also active in regional and touring theater in the 1980s and '90s.

"Gavin was as clean as they came," Mary Tyler Moore Show fellow actor Ed Asner said. "He never made a dirty slur or took advantage of anyone at any time. And he got along with everyone."

Even Ted Knight, who played Murray's sparring partner on Moore. In fact, according to Asner, MacLeod and Knight were best friends offscreen. "[Knight] was always cutting up so badly that he had Gavin laughing from dawn to dusk."

When MacLeod died, Asner tweeted, "My heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food), and my comic conspirator. I will see you in a bit Gavin. Tell the gang I will see them in a bit. Betty! It's just you and me now."

Indeed, Asner passed away just a few months after writing that, on August 29, 2021, at age ninety-one. Betty White, who played Sue Ann Nivens on the Moore Show, passed away four months later, on December 31 — just shy of her 100th birthday.