Gavin MacLeod Has Died At 90
The newsroom at WJM TV and Captain’s table on the Pacific Princess just became a lot less sharp, witty, and intriguingly roiling behind the eyes, as the voice of reason and big heart that steered them both from start to finish, Gavin MacLeod, died yesterday morning at the age of 90.
TMZ reports:
MacLeod passed away overnight early Saturday morning at his home in Palm Desert, CA — where he was surrounded by loved ones and caretakers … this according to Gavin’s nephew, Mark See. We’re told he’d been in and out of the hospital these last few months with varying illnesses — and it’s unclear what exactly might’ve caused his death in the end.
That said, See tells us it was not COVID-related. MacLeod’s ex-wife, Joan Devore, confirmed all of those details, except for the location of his death.
Gavin is pictured above with wife Patti Kendig, a dancer whom he married for the second time in 1985 after their first marriage had ended after eight years in 1982. He had been previously married to Joan Devore, with whom he shared four children: sons Keith and David and daughters Meaghan and Julie, and ten grandchildren.
Gavin was born Allan George See on February 28, 1931, in Mount Kisco, New York. He studied acting at Ithaca College and graduated in 1952 with a BA in Fine Arts, served in the US Air Force, and changed his name while looking for acting work after a brief stint working for Radio City Music Hall. His list of acting credits seems endless, but TMZ names the highlights:
His TV career was pretty much second to none — the guy had roles on hit shows like “Hawaii Five-O,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Perry Mason,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Untouchables,” “Peter Gunn,” “Cain’s Hundred,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “My Favorite Martian,” “The Big Valley,” “It Takes a Thief,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Scruples,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Oz,” “JAG,” “That ’70s Show,” “Touched By An Angel” … and dozens more over his 7-decade career.
It was during his time on McHale’s Navy that he sadly reached a low point in his life, began abusing alcohol, felt hopeless and “like a prop” in his career, and drove drunk on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, planning to take his own life. Something told him to hit the brakes at the last second, sparing his life and allowing for the therapy and new acting opportunities that would soon make him a TV fixture in living rooms across the US from 1970, when The Mary Tyler Moore Show first aired, through 1987, the last season of The Love Boat.
You just never know what might be waiting for you if you stop and question that relentless bitch troll called hopelessness.
As a kid, I was glued to reruns of TMTMS and especially loved the bitchy banter between head news writer Murray Slaughter, Gavin’s character, and “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens, played by Betty White, who joined the cast in the fourth season. I later discovered that Gavin had originally planned to audition for the role of Lou Grant (played by Ed Asner), but ultimately decided he was better suited to the “everyman” character of Murray.
Here is a scene from “What Do You Want To Do When You Produce?” in Season 6 when Murray’s good nature is exploited by Sue Ann when he agrees to work for her on her own show. The best part starts at 17:35, and this scene showcases the entire cast reacting in their own signature ways to the browbeaten wreck that Murray had quickly become:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf7rgrdLYvY
Gavin also shone as Murray when playing against bumbling foil Ted Baxter, played by Ted Knight (both men had been friends in real life since the 1950s). Here is a rare (and perhaps the only) example of Ted getting the best of Murray in Season 5’s “A Girl Like Mary,” beginning at the 6:57 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuokONo3JsY
Gavin speaks here of nailing his role as Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat, a part he didn’t dream of getting on the heels of such a successful, seven-year run on TMTMS:
Princess Cruises issued this tribute to Gavin yesterday:
And here is a touching tribute from former TMTMS cast member, Ed Asner:
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. pic.twitter.com/se4fwh7G1G
— Ed Asner (@TheOnlyEdAsner) May 29, 2021
Gavin brought not just wit and impeccable comedic timing, but warmth, vulnerability, flaws, and decency to his characters that made him both lovable and relatable. As someone who had reached the bottom and had pulled himself back up, he had a great deal of emotion and experience from which to draw and inform his characters. Gavin and Patti also credited Christianity for their happiness and successful second go at marriage and even hosted a program for the Trinity Broadcasting Network called Back on Course, that offered support to troubled married couples.
Rest in peace, and thank you for decades of laughter, Gavin MacLeod.
Pic: Wenn.com