Gavin MacLeod Dies: 'Love Boat' Captain And 'Mary Tyler Moore' Colleague Was 90
By Bruce Haring
Gavin MacLeod Dies: Actor 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'The Love Boat' – Deadline
Gavin MacLeod, who was the Love Boat captain and played Murray on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, two of the top television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, died today at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. MacLeod was 90 and his death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark See.
No cause of death was revealed, but MacLeod had been in ill health over the last few months....
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Personal life
MacLeod married his current wife Patti in 1974. Both were previously divorced. The couple divorced in 1982, but remarried in 1985. During the mid-1980s, they became Evangelical Protestants and credit their faith for bringing them back together.[22]
During his time as the Captain on The Love Boat, MacLeod "very selfishly" (his words) divorced Patti. She then spent the next three years seeking help from psychiatrists on both the West and the East coasts. Then one day, his wife received a telephone call from Patti Lewis, first wife of Jerry Lewis, inviting her to a Christian prayer group which contained a number of famous actresses who started to pray for Gavin. MacLeod later said, "From that day, I started to think about her. Something told me to call Patti. I called Patti. I went back to see her the following Monday and things haven't been the same since." MacLeod asked her what had happened. She then explained everything to him including that she had given her life to Jesus Christ.[23]
On September 20, 2009, MacLeod discussed his conversion to Christianity at The Rock Church in Anaheim, California with further guest appearances in 2012.[24]
Gavin MacLeod - Wikipedia