MacLeod died early Saturday, his nephew, Mark See, told Variety. MacLeod’s health had been poor recently but no cause of death was given, the trade publication reported. TMZ first reported his death after getting confirmation from his ex-wife Joan Devore.
USA TODAY has reached out to MacLeod’s representatives.
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MacLeod’s acting career took off when he was cast alongside legendary actress Mary Tyler Moore as the news writer for the fictional “Mary Tyler Moore Show” WJM-TV news station. With a balding head, MacLeod’s character served as a foil to Betty White’s happy homemaker Sue Ann Nivens. His role on the groundbreaking sitcom landed him two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor.
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After his stint on “Mary Tyler Moore” MacLeod served as the lead character for “The Love Boat” sitcom. The show lasted for almost 10 years on ABC as it followed captain Merrill Stubing on the MS Pacific cruise ship. The hour-long comedy depicted fictional passengers and crew involved in adventures and romances at sea. MacLeod added three more Golden Globe nominations, this time for best actor, for his role as Stubing.
More: ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ anniversary: 50 ways we still love the classic sitcom
In 2013 he released his memoir “This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life” and wrote about the highs and lows of his long-running career in show business.
“My life has taken one incredible turn after another,” MacLeod wrote. “I’ve gotten to do what I wanted to do. I’ve been a captain! I’ve been given this incredible gift of life and now I want to use it to give back. That’s why I’m sharing my story here, the fun parts and even some not-so-fun parts, in the hopes that maybe someone will take a nice walk down memory lane with me – and maybe I’ll even give someone a little bit of hope.”
One major role he auditioned for: Archie Bunker in “All in the Family.” But he quickly realized the character, immortalized by Carroll O’Connor, was wrong for him. “Immediately I thought, ‘This is not the script for me. The character is too much of a bigot.’ I can’t say these things,” MacLeod wrote in his memoir.
Other movie credits included “Kelly’s Heroes,” “The Sand Pebbles” and “The Sword of Ali Baba.”
MacLeod’s former “Mary Tyler Moore Show” costar Ed Asner remembered him on Twitter on Saturday as his “partner in crime.”
“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,” Asner wrote. “Betty! It’s just you and me now.”
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
“As a 70’s/80’s kid, I spent many a Saturday night with my Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister watching LOVE BOAT. So I was unexpectedly sad to see Gavin MacLeod has cruised on to that Puerto Vallarta in the sky! Thanks for the many memories, Captain Stubing – here and at WJM-TV! #RIP,” Smith wrote.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
Gavin MacLeod, known for his TV stardom in shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Love Boat,” died. He was 90.
Variety and TMZ reported the longtime TV actor’s death after getting confirmation from his nephew, Mark See.
MacLeod’s acting career took off when he was cast as the news writer for the fictional “Mary Tyler Moore Show” WJM-TV news station, earning two Golden Globe nominations for that role. In the late 70s he became the lead for ABC’s “The Love Boat.” He manned the MS Pacific cruise ship as Capt. Merrill Stubing.
Kay Lahusen, a pioneering LGBTQ rights activist who chronicled the movement’s earliest days through her photography and writing, has died. She was 91. Known as the first openly gay U.S. photojournalist, Lahusen died Wednesday at Chester County Hospital outside Philadelphia, following a brief illness.
Lahusen advocated for gay civil rights years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York helped launch the modern LGBTQ era. She captured widely published images of some of the nation’s first protests.
Two-time Tony Award nominee Samuel E. Wright died May 24 at age 74 after a three-year battle with cancer, the Hudson Valley Conservatory, which Wright and his wife co-founded, confirmed to USA TODAY.
He’s best known for voicing Sebastian the crab in Disney’s 1989 animated musical “The Little Mermaid,” in which he memorably sang lead vocals in the Oscar-winning song “Under the Sea.” Wright also played Mufasa in the original cast of Broadway’s “The Lion King,” for which he was nominated for best featured actor in a musical at the 1998 Tony Awards.
Eric Carle, the beloved children’s author and illustrator whose classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other works gave millions of kids some of their earliest literary memories, died May 23 at age 91.
“‘Caterpillar’ is a book of hope: you, too, can grow up and grow wings,” he said in 1994.
Through books including “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” “Do You Want to Be My Friend?” and “From Head to Toe,” Carle introduced universal themes in simple words and bright colors.
Paul Mooney, known for his comedic writing for Richard Pryor and appearances in “Bamboozled” and “Chappelle’s Show,” died of a heart attack at age 79. The Emmy-nominated comedian, who was the writer behind some of Pryor’s greatest hits like “Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip” and “The Richard Pryor Show,” offered sage and incisive musings on racism and American life that made him a revered figure in stand-up.
Pervis Staples (far left) – whose tenor voice complemented his father’s and sisters’ (from left, Cleotha, Pops, Mavis and Yvonne) in the legendary gospel group The Staple Singers – died May 6 at his home in Dalton, Illinois at age 85. The group gained fame in the 1960s by singing music that urged change on a variety of social and religious issues. The Staple Singers gained a huge audience with their first No. 1 hit, “I’ll Take You There,” in 1972 and followed with top 40 hits “Respect Yourself,” “Heavy Makes You Happy” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me).”
Rock ‘n’ roll founding father Lloyd Price, who sang “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “Stagger Lee” and “Personality,” died May 3 at age 88. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer died at a care facility in New Rochelle, New York, of complications of diabetes. The R&B singer, who hailed from Kenner, Louisiana, was part of a generation of New Orleans hitmakers (including Fats Domino and Professor Longhair) who paved the way for rock ‘n’ roll.
Olympia Dukakis, who won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her role as Rose Castorini, Cher’s mother in 1987’s “Moonstruck,” died May 1 at age 89. The veteran screen and stage actress, celebrated for her roles in “Steel Magnolias” and TV’s “Tales from the City,” nabbed her Oscar the same year that her cousin, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, was the Democratic presidential nominee.
Twenty-time Grammy winner Al Schmitt, whose extraordinary career as a recording engineer and producer included albums by Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and many other of the top performers of the past 60 years, died April 26 at age 91.
Milva, one of Italy’s most popular singers in the ’60s and ’70s who was also beloved by many fans abroad, died April 24 at her home in Milan. She was 81.
Rapper and producer Shock G (aka Greg Jacobs), 57, famous as the creator of “The Humpty Dance” with the hip-hop group Digital Underground, was found dead on April 22 in Tampa. Digital Underground’s 1991 hit “Same Song” introduced rap superstar Tupac Shakur, the band’s roadie and backup dancer at the time, to music fans.
Les McKeown, former lead singer of the 1970s Scottish pop sensation Bay City Rollers, died suddenly on April 20 at age 65. McKeown, born in Edinburgh to Irish parents, joined the Bay City Rollers in late 1973, replacing founding lead singer Gordon “Nobby” Clark. The band split up in 1978, reuniting in 2015 for a string of sold-out performances, and McKeown continued perform and record solo throughout his life.
Burlesque icon Tempest Storm (born Annie Blanche Banks), who blazed a trail for strip-tease artists, died April 20 at home in Las Vegas at age 93. She signed a history-making $100,000 a year contract in 1956 and sold out clubs across the country. Actively involved in the burlesque community right up until the end, she gave her last performance in 2010, when she fractured her left hip, putting an end to her stage appearances.
Songwriter Jim Steinman, known for penning hit songs like “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” died April 19, according to his brother Bill Steinman. He was 73. Steinman wrote and produced Meat Loaf’s hit albums “Bat Out of Hell” and “Bat Out of Hell II.”
Alma Wahlberg (second from right), the famous Wahlberg family matriarch who appeared on their family reality show “Wahlburgers,” died at age 78, her children announced April 18.
“I feel blessed to have been brought into this world by, raised by, taught by and set on my life’s path by, such an amazing woman,” Donnie Wahlberg (right) wrote in an Instagram tribute.
She had nine children: Michelle, Paul (second from left), Arthur, Jim, Tracey, Robert, Donnie, Mark (left), and Debbie, who died in 2003 at age 43. Their father, Alma Wahlberg’s ex-husband, Donald Wahlberg, died in 2008.
Sunday Burquest, a youth pastor and competitor on 2016’s “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X,” died April 18 of cancer at 50. The breast cancer survivor was diagnosed with terminal esophageal and ovarian cancer in 2020. “Sunday Burquest had one of the brightest smiles of any person to ever play ‘Survivor,'” host Jeff Probst wrote on Instagram. “She radiated kindness and understanding to anyone lucky enough to be in her presence.”
Helen McCrory, famed for her roles in the “Harry Potter” film series and the BBC’s “Peaky Blinders,” died at 52 following her battle with cancer, her husband Damian Lewis announced in a statement on April 16.
DMX, a rap legend known for being at the apex of hip-hop culture in the 1990s and 2000s, died April 9. The iconic performer, seen in 2001, was 50.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died April 9 at the age of 99. He was the oldest and longest-serving royal spouse in 10 centuries.
Anne Beats, a groundbreaking comedy writer, who was on the original staff of “Saturday Night Live” and later created the cult sitcom “Square Pegs” featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, died April 7. She was 74.
Paul Ritter, a Tony-nominated actor known for his work in theater, film and TV, died April 5 at age 54 after suffering from a brain tumor, his representative confirmed to USA TODAY.
Born in the United Kingdom, Ritter most recently starred as patriarch Martin Goodman in the British television series “Friday Night Dinner,” which ran from 2011 to 2020. In 2009, he received a Tony nomination for his lead role in the play “The Norman Conquests” and appeared as Eldred Worple in the 2009 film adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” He also appeared in the 2019 “Chernobyl” miniseries.
Arthur Kopit, a three time Tony Award-nominated playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist known for fusing disparate genres, absurdism and a darkly comic world view died at age 83 on March 2.
Gloria Henry, best known for her role in “Dennis the Menace,” died March 3 at age 98, one day after her birthday. From 1959 to 1963, Henry played the beloved TV mom Alice Mitchell on the CBS family sitcom “Dennis the Menace.” She also appeared in films including 1947’s “Sport of Kings,” 1948’s “Triple Threat” and 1952’s “Rancho Notorious.”
Linda Torres, who was frequently seen on “Big Ang” and “Mob Wives,” died April 1 from COVID-19 complications in New York at age 67. Torres was Angela “Big Ang” Raiola’s friend and was diagnosed with COVID-19 nine weeks prior, Raiola’s sister Janine Detore told USA TODAY.
Bestselling children’s author Beverly Cleary, who introduced young readers across three generations to the love of reading through such characters as Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, died on March 25. She was 104.
Who could forget Ramona, the star of Cleary’s popular book series, which began with “Beezus and Ramona,” about a rebellious rugrat who struggles with her father’s unemployment. In 2010, her book was adapted to the big-screen feature “Ramona and Beezus,” starring Selena Gomez.
Jessica Walter, known as matriarch Lucille Bluth of “Arrested Development,” died on March 24. She was 80. Walter had a long, prolific career in Hollywood, including roles in 1971’s “Play Misty for Me,” “Arrested Development” and most recently in FX’s “Archer.”
George Segal, a longtime leading man in movies like “Where’s Poppa,” “The Hot Rock” and “Blume in Love” who can be still currently be seen as the lovable grandfather on ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” died March 23. He was 87.
Norton Juster, the USA TODAY bestselling author best known for writing “The Phantom Tollbooth,” died March 8 following complications from a recent stroke. He was 91. His first and best-known work, “The Phantom Tollbooth,” about Milo, a bored 10-year-old who comes home to find a magical toy tollbooth sitting in his room, would go on to become a widely-beloved hit.
Jahmil French, an actor who appeared in “Degrassi: The Next Generation” from 2009 to 2013, died at age 29, his agent confirmed on March 2. His cause of death was not provided.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of a dear friend and client Jahmil French,” Gabrielle Kachman told USA TODAY. “He will be remembered by many for his passion for the arts, his commitment to his craft, and his vibrant personality. I ask that you keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”
Art Cervi, who reached an enormous audience as the iconic Bozo the Clown, died on Feb. 15 at the age of 86. Cervi shaped musical tastes of Detroit baby boomers as talent coordinator for the dance show “Swingin’ Time,” then found a new career by hiding in plain sight behind Bozo the Clown’s bulbous red nose, entertaining countless younger fans.
Salsa idol Johnny Pacheco, who was a co-founder of Fania Records, Eddie Palmieri’s bandmate and backer of music stars such as Rubén Bladés, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, died Feb. 15. He was 85.
Jazz legend Chick Corea died Feb. 9 after battling cancer. He was 79.
“It is with great sadness we announce that on February 9th, Chick Corea passed away at the age of 79, from a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently,” a statement shared to Corea’s Facebook page Thursday read.
In 1968, Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis’ group, playing on the landmark albums “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew.” He formed his own avant-garde group, Circle, and then founded Return to Forever. He’s worked on many other projects, including duos with Hancock and vibraphonist Gary Burton. With 23 Grammy awards, he is the artist with the most jazz wins in the show’s 63-year history.
Larry Flynt, ‘King of Smut’ and unlikely free-speech champion, died Feb. 10 at his home in Los Angeles at age 78. Flynt’s brother Jimmy Flynt confirmed the death to the USA TODAY Network.
Crude, rude and outspoken, Flynt made his fortune in the early 1970s after he turned a racy newsletter for his Ohio strip clubs into Hustler magazine.
His sexually explicit magazine trampled over boundaries set by competitors, such as Playboy, and set the stage for court battles over obscenity that redefined the meaning of “community standards” and made Flynt a self-styled champion of free speech.
Dustin Diamond, best known for playing Samuel “Screech” Powers on TV’s “Saved by the Bell,” died Feb. 1 after a short battle with cancer. He was 44 and had been diagnosed just three weeks earlier, his publicist Roger Paul told USA TODAY. Post-Screech, he toured as a stand-up comedian and appeared on reality TV shows (including “Celebrity Big Brother” and “Weakest Link”) and in movies (“Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star”).
Electronic pop artist and musician Sophie Xeon, popularly known as just Sophie died. on Jan. 30. She was 34.
“Tragically our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident,” the artist’s family said an emailed statement provided by Sophie’s representative, Ludovica Ludinatrice. “True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell. She will always be here with us. The family thank everyone for their love and support and request privacy at this devastating time.”
On Jan. 28, Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder” and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” has died. She was 96. “With heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon,” her family said in a statement provided by manager Larry Thompson.
Eight-time Emmy winner Cloris Leachman, who famously played Mary Tyler Moore’s landlady and dotty neighbor Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Phyllis,” died Jan. 27 of natural causes at 94. She was known primarily as a TV actress but appeared in several Mel Brooks movies, including “Young Frankenstein” and “High Anxiety,” and won an Oscar for her performance as an adulterous gym teacher’s wife in 1971’s “The Last Picture Show.” In 2008, she became the oldest contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2011.
Song Yoo-jung, a South Korean actress, died at age 26, her agency, Sublime Artist Agency, announced on social media Jan. 25. No cause of death was given.
According to Sublime Artist Agency’s website, Song appeared in the Korean show “Make a Wish” from 2014 to 2015. The website also notes that Song acted in the 2013 show “Golden Rainbow,” the 2017 show “School 2017” and the 2019 web drama “Dear My Name.”
Screenwriter Walter Bernstein, among the last survivors of Hollywood’s anti-Communist blacklist, died Jan. 23 at 101. He died from pneumonia, his wife, literary agent Gloria Loomis, told The Associated Press. His Oscar-nominated script for “The Front,” which starred Woody Allen, drew upon his years of being unable to work under his own name.
Harry Brant, a rising model and son of supermodel Stephanie Seymour and publisher Peter M. Brant, died Jan. 17 at 24.
The younger Brant died of an accidental overdose, his family said in a statement to The New York Times, saying “his life was cut short by this devastating disease.”
“He was a creative, loving and powerful soul that brought light into so many people’s hearts,” the statement said. “He was truly a beautiful person inside and out.”
Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, died Jan. 16. He was 81.
John Reilly, longtime star of “General Hospital” along with dramas such as “Passions” and “Sunset Beach,” died at age 86. The official “General Hospital” Twitter account mourned the loss on Jan. 10. “The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of John Reilly’s passing,” the tweet said.
Marsha Zazula, who co-founded a new era in heavy metal music at the Rock and Roll Heaven record store in the former Route 18 Indoor Market in East Brunswick, New Jersey with husband Jonny Zazula, died on Jan. 10, at her Florida home after battling cancer, her family has announced. She was 68. “No man can ask for a partner like Marsha Zazula,” said Jonny Zazula in a statement to the USA TODAY Network.
Michael Apted, the acclaimed British director of the “Up” documentary series and films as diverse as the Loretta Lynn biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and the James Bond film “The World Is Not Enough,” has died. He was 79.
A representative for the Directors Guild of America said his family informed the organization that he passed on Jan. 7. No cause was given.
Tanya Roberts, who starred in the 1985 James Bond film “A View to A Kill,” as well as classic TV series “Charlie’s Angels” and “That ’70s Show,” died on Jan. 4. Roberts’ longtime partner Lance O’Brien told USA TODAY that the actress died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, where she was taken when she collapsed after walking her dogs on Christmas Eve.
In a statement, Roberts’ publicist Mike Pingel said her cause of death stemmed from complications of a urinary tract infection “which spread to her kidney, gallbladder, liver and then bloodstream.”
Alexi Laiho, former frontman of Finnish death metal band Children of Bodom, died after struggling with “long-term health issues,” his bandmates announced on Jan. 4. According to the announcement on the band’s website, Laiho died at age 41 in his Helsinki, Finland home the week prior.
Gerry Marsden, the British singer who was instrumental in turning the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” into one of the great anthems in the world of football, died at the age of 78.
After speaking to Marsden’s family, his friend Pete Price announced in an Instagram post on Jan. 3 that the Gerry and the Pacemakers frontman died after a short illness related to a heart infection.
Mike Fenton, the casting director behind some of Hollywood’s most beloved films including the “Back to the Future” movies, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and “The Godfather Part II,” died at age 85 on Dec. 30, 2020. Fenton’s son Mick told The Hollywood Reporter in an article published Jan. 1 that Fenton died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gavin MacLeod, ‘Love Boat’ and ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ actor, dies at 90; reports
