page_title: Gavin MacLeod
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Gavin MacLeod / Career
caption_attribution_description: Photo of Gavin MacLeod as Murray Slaughter and Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
context_page_description: Gavin MacLeod is an American film and television character actor, and Christian activist and author, whose career spans six decades. He has also appeared as a guest on several talk, variety, and religious programs.
  MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he played opposite Peter Mann in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to play opposite Anthony Franciosa in A Man Called Gannon, opposite Christopher George in The Thousand Plane Raid, and opposite Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, and Carroll O'Connor in Kelly's Heroes.
  MacLeod achieved continuing television success co-starring opposite Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy, as Joseph "Happy" Haines, and on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Murray Slaughter. He is best known for his starring role on ABC's The Love Boat, in which he was cast as ship's Captain Merrill Stubing.
context_section_description: MacLeod made his television debut in 1957 on The Walter Winchell File at the age of 26. His first movie appearance was a small, uncredited role in The True Story of Lynn Stuart in 1958. Soon thereafter, he landed a credited role in I Want to Live!, a 1958 prison drama starring Susan Hayward.  He was soon noticed by Blake Edwards, who in 1958 cast him in the pilot episode of his NBC series Peter Gunn, two guest roles on the Edwards CBS series Mr. Lucky in 1959, and as a nervous harried navy yeoman in Operation Petticoat, with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.  Operation Petticoat proved to be a breakout role for MacLeod, and he was soon cast in two other Edwards comedies, High Time, with Bing Crosby and The Party with Peter Sellers.
  Between 1957 and 1961, MacLeod made several television appearances. He was cast as the devious Dandy Martin in the 1960 episode, "Yankee Confederate", of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews and starring alongside Tod Andrews and Elaine Devry.
  In December 1961, he landed a guest role on The Dick Van Dyke Show as Mel's cousin Maxwell Cooley, a wholesale jeweler. This was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore. MacLeod had three guest appearances on Perry Mason: in 1961 he played Lawrence Comminger in "The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather", and in 1965 he played Mortimer Hershey in "The Case of the Grinning Gorilla", and Dan Platte in "The Case of the Runaway Racer". He played the role of a drug pusher, "Big Chicken", in two episodes of the first season of Hawaii Five-O. Other guest roles include The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Man from U.N.C.L.E., My Favorite Martian, Hogan's Heroes, Combat!, The Big Valley, The Andy Griffith Show, It Takes a Thief, The Flying Nun, The King of Queens, and That '70s Show.
  His first regular television role began in 1962 as Joseph "Happy" Haines on McHale's Navy; he left this role after two seasons to appear in the motion picture, The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen. Between the years of 1965 – 69, MacLeod appeared in many weekly episodes in multiple roles on the TV series Hogan's Heroes including Major Zolle (season 1, episode 19), General Metzger (season 3, episode 27) Major Kiegel (season 4, episode 1) and General von Rauscher (season 4, episode 23). Each role was usually a stern and discerning officer of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Luftwaffe or Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) which are vastly different from the lovable characters he portrayed in his subsequent TV roles.
  MacLeod's breakout role as Murray Slaughter on CBS' The Mary Tyler Moore Show won him lasting fame and two Golden Globe nominations. His starring role as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat, his next TV series was broadcast in 90 countries worldwide, between 1977 and 1986 (9 seasons). His work on that show earned him three Golden Globe nominations. Co-starring with him was a familiar actor and best friend Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker and  Ted Lange as bartender Isaac Washington. Lange said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show of MacLeod that "Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends."
  MacLeod became the global ambassador for Princess Cruises in 1986. He has played a role in ceremonies launching many of the line's new ships.  In 1997, MacLeod joined the Love Boat cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show.  After The Love Boat, MacLeod toured with Michael Learned of The Waltons in Love Letters. He made several appearances in musicals such as Gigi and Copacabana between 1997 and 2003.  In December 2008, he appeared with the Colorado Symphony in Denver.
  MacLeod and his wife have been hosts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for 17 years, primarily hosting a show about marriage called Back on Course. MacLeod appeared in Rich Christiano's Time Changer, a movie about time travel and how the morals of society have moved away from the Bible. 
caption: MacLeod with Betty White on set of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in  August 1975
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