Trivia: Best remembered for his high-profile acting roles on two 1970s television sitcoms -- that of genial news writer Murray Slaughter on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and that of sweet-natured Captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat (1977-1986), stage-trained actor Gavin MacLeod in fact began his career typecast as a villain. He landed parts in Hollywood features including The Sand Pebbles (1966), Deathwatch (1966), and The Comic (1969), and enjoyed a tenure as Joseph "Happy" Haines on the sitcom McHale's Navy from 1962 through 1964. After The Love Boat permanently laid anchor in the mid-'80s, MacLeod signed on as a spokesperson and pitchman for Princess Cruises and returned to regional theatrical work. He also tackled guest spots on programs including Touched by an Angel and (in a move that surprised everyone) the HBO prison drama Oz. Off-camera, MacLeod is an outspoken born-again Christian. He hosted a popular talk show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, along with his wife, Patti (whom he divorced in 1982 and remarried three years later), called Back on Course, and personally funded many of the Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible animated videos for children.

Trivia: Universally recognized as Ship's Doctor Adam Bricker on the blockbuster prime-time sitcom The Love Boat (1977-1986) -- a part he held for the entire nine-season run of the series -- actor Bernie Kopell entered the doors of show business via a most unlikely route. Born in Brooklyn, Kopell attended Erasmus High and then New York University (with a dramatic art major). After a stint at sea aboard the naval vessel USS Iowa, Kopell signed on to drive a taxicab in Southern California -- and achieved his big break on the day that Oregon Trail (1959) film producer Dick Einfeld hitched a ride in the back of his cab. In a span of minutes, Kopell reportedly managed to convince Einfeld that he was not really a cab driver but an actor in serious need of work. The effort paid off, and Kopell snagged his first part -- a two-line part in Oregon as an aide to president James K. Polk. In the early '60s, Kopell joined the Actors' Ring Theatre in Los Angeles, where he developed a knack for characterizations and voices; this led, in turn, to character-type roles on a myriad of television programs including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Steve Allen Show, and My Favorite Martian (which often, though not always, cast the wiry Kopell as a Hispanic). By the early '70s, Kopell had landed steady assignments on Get Smart, Bewitched, That Girl, and other series. The Love Boat, however, embodied his breakthrough. He followed it up with an emcee assignment on The Travel Channel (hosting its Railway Adventures Across Europe) and a surge in theatrical work, with portrayals in regional productions of such plays as Rumors, A History of Shadows, and Death of a Salesman.

Trivia: Actor Fred Grandy enjoyed two distinct careers -- an initial career as an actor and a proverbial second wind on the political stage. As a thespian, Grandy signed for guest spots on early-'70s series including Maude and Phyllis, but built his reputation via his nine-season portrayal of Yeoman-Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith, right-hand man to Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod), on the popular television sitcom The Love Boat (1977-1986). He proved popular with audiences, but by the mid-'80s reportedly grew tired of acting and gravitated to the political arena because he found it more challenging. Indeed, in 1986 -- the year of Boat's cancelation -- Grandy was elected as a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Iowa.

Trivia: For millions of Americans, the prime-time situation comedy The Love Boat will be forever inseparable from the image of Ted Lange, an actor cast for nine seasons as the genial Isaac the Bartender on the Pacific Princess luxury liner and trademarked by his iconic "two-finger drop" greeting. Yet Lange's portrayal of Isaac scarcely hinted at the actor's dexterity or dramatic range. In truth, this actor received classical dramatic training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and would go on, after the Princess took its final voyage in September 1986, to establish himself as a revered creative force in regional theater.Lange initially broke into films with many portrayals in Hollywood programmers during the early '70s, including Trick Baby (1972), Blade (1972), and Black Belt Jones (1974), and landed a regular role in the one-season ethnic sitcom That's My Mama (1974), as a streetwise philosopher opposite Clifton Davis (Amen) and Theresa Merritt. The Love Boat, of course, brought Lange his most widespread recognition; nonetheless (as indicated), he hearkened back to his theatrical roots beginning in the late '80s and divided his time between writing, directing, and stage acting roles. His resumé as a scribe sports at least 17 original plays including Lemon Meringue Facade, Behind the Mask -- An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Evil Legacy -- The Story of Lucretia Borgia, while he has appeared dramatically in productions including Hair and Taming of the Shrew and has directed plays ranging from Othello to the rock & roll musical Born a Unicorn.

Trivia: Pennsylvania-born actress Lauren Tewes achieved broadest recognition for her stint as Cruise Director Julie McCoy on the long-running ABC situation comedy The Love Boat. Unfortunately, Tewes (unlike many of her fellow cast members) left the program prior to the final voyage of the Pacific Princess -- reportedly spiraling into a much-publicized bout of severe cocaine addiction from which she eventually fully recovered, but which cost her the role on the series. Tewes nevertheless demonstrated admirable resilience by returning for at least two Love Boat telemovies and remained active in television and film. Subsequent projects included guest appearances on the small-screen series dramas Hunter and Murder, She Wrote, and roles in features such as The Doom Generation (1995) and It Came From Outer Space 2 (1996).

Trivia: Entered Miss Black America pageants as a teen, and as Miss Brooklyn eventually won first runner-up in the Miss New York State contest. Auditioned for role of Thelma Evans on the CBS comedy series Good Times while still in college. Won the part and made her TV-series debut when it premiered in 1974. In the late 1990s, appeared in a hip-hop music video for Camp Lo with former Good Times costar Jimmie Walker. Produced several plays, including Whatever Happened to Black Love. In 2006 released first book, Situations 101: Relationships The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

Trivia: Clifton Davis, a black lead actor and singer/songwriter, first appeared onscreen in 1973.

Trivia: Actor David Hasselhoff first built up a fan following on the daytime TV soaper The Young and the Restless, where from 1975 through 1982 he played Bill "Snapper" Foster. He graduated to Prime Time as crimefighter Michael Knight on the fantasy actioner Knight Rider; this one lasted from 1982 to 1986. With his American career in temporary doldrums after Knight Rider's cancellation, Hasselhoff took advantage of his fluency in the German language to establish a phenomenal successful singing career in Europe. It is likely that nothing has brought him as much professional satisfaction as his Berlin Wall concert, an event that drew 500,000 spectators. In 1989, Hasselhoff signed on for another TV series, the initially unremarkable adventure weekly Baywatch. Few people need to be reminded of David Hasselhoff's success in this last endeavor: as of this writing, Baywatch is the single most popular television series in the world, beaming out to an estimated audience of one billion viewers.

Trivia: The niece of musical comedy luminary Nanette Fabray, American actress Shelley Fabares was in show business almost as soon as she could walk. She was a model for children's fashions at age 3, a bit actress in the film The Bandit Queen at age 7, a peripheral character on the Annie Oakley TV series at 8, and Frank Sinatra's dance partner on a 1953 TV special. After doing the TV-anthology route from ages 10 through 13, Fabares was cast at age 14 as Donna Reed's daughter on The Donna Reed Show, a part she would virtually grow up in. Before the series' cancellation in 1966, Fabares had become a top recording artist, selling a million copies of "Johnny Angel" before quitting singing cold because she felt she had no talent in that endeavor. Except for co-starring stints in three Elvis Presley musicals, Fabares' employment outside Donna Reed was virtually nil, and from 1968 through 1970 she barely worked at all. She filmed six TV pilots before 1971, but none sold. Things began picking up in 1972 when she was signed for a Brian Keith series set in Hawaii, The Little People. This led to guest TV spots until the next sitcom hitch in 1977's The Practice, in which Fabares played Danny Thomas' daughter-in-law. Highcliffe Manor, a muddled TV satire of Gothic melodramas, followed in 1979, but lasted a scant four weeks. By this time, Fabares' characterizations were of the "snooty shrew" category, and in this capacity she was shown to good advantage as Bonnie Franklin's business partner on One Day at a Time in 1981. Off-camera, Fabares was very active in the prosocial and ecological activities of her new husband, former MASH star Mike Farrell--a far cry from her on-camera haughtiness and self-involvement. More recently, Shelley Fabares' acting career is alive and prospering via her continuing role as Craig T. Nelson's lady love, sportscaster Christine Armstrong, on the Emmy-winning sitcom Coach.

Trivia: Character actress Ann B. Davis is best known among baby boomers for her alter ego, Alice Nelson, the spinster housekeeper and glue that kept the Brady Bunch family from descending into sitcom anarchy. Among older television viewers she is remembered as Schultzy, Bob Cummings' loyal, love-struck assistant on The Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959; later retitled Love That Bob for syndication). Like the other cast members of The Brady Bunch (1969-1974), Davis has made a living capitalizing on her character and has appeared in all the subsequent Brady Bunch television movies and made a cameo as Schultzy, the wise truck driver who counsels would-be runaway Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie (1995). Other than that last appearance, Davis, a born-again Christian, spent much her last two decades deeply involved in a tiny Christian community led by Bishop William Frey, serving the homeless. Davis also lectured and testified before church groups around the country. She died in 2014, at age 88.

Trivia: The daughter of an aggressive (but comparatively benign) stage mother, Jane Withers was taught to sing and dance before she was three. At four, Withers was starring on her own radio program in Atlanta, doing imitations of such celebrities as Greta Garbo, ZaSu Pitts, and Maurice Chevalier. Relocating to Hollywood with her mother in 1932, Withers began her film career in bit parts, eventually winning the plum role of the obnoxious brat who bedevils sweet little Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes (1934) (throughout her career, Withers had nothing but nice things to say about Temple; for her part, Temple claimed that she was terrified of Withers, both on and off camera). This role won Withers a contract at Fox Studios (later 20th Century Fox), and for the next seven years she starred in a series of energetic, medium-budget comedies and musicals bearing such titles as Pepper (1936), The Holy Terror (1937), and Arizona Wildcat (1937). The script for her 1941 vehicle Small Town Deb was penned by Withers herself, using the nom de plume Jerrie Walters. After the end of her Fox contract in 1943, Withers attempted to establish herself as an ingenue in such films as Sam Goldwyn's The North Star, but her offbeat facial features and her inclination toward stoutness limited her choice of roles. In 1947, the newly married Withers decided to retire from films, something she was fully prepared to do thanks to her oil-rich husband and the generous trust fund set up by her parents. The collapse of her marriage and a severe attack of rheumatoid arthritis dealt potentially fatal blows to her optimistic nature, but by 1955 she was back on her feet, attending the U.S.C. film school in hopes of becoming a director. Hollywood producer/director George Stevens, a frequent U.S.C. lecturer, cast Withers in a sizeable supporting role in the 1956 epic Giant. Withers' second career as a character actress flourished into the 1970s; during this resurgence of activity she married again, only to be left a widow when her husband died in a 1968 plane crash. To TV viewers of the 1960s and 1970s, Jane Withers will be forever associated with her long-running (and extremely lucrative) stint as Josephine the Plumber in a popular series of commercials for Comet cleanser.

Trivia: American actress Peggy Cass began her career in 1945 when she went on an Australian tour with "The Doughgirls." This led to many appearances on Broadway. Cass was especially noted for her comedy roles and won a Tony for her work as Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame. In 1958, the role earned Cass an Oscar nomination. Since then she has rarely appeared in films.

Trivia: Jill Whelan enjoyed an acting career as a child star, with a seven-season (1979-1986) portrayal of Vicki, Captain Merrill Stubing's young daughter, on the prime-time ABC situation comedy The Love Boat. After the series wrapped in 1986, Whelan returned for a number of Love Boat telemovies, acted in regional theater, and played a regular role on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. Astute movie buffs may remember Whelan for a brief but memorable big-screen contribution that happened during her Love Boat tenure: she also portrayed Lisa Davis, the ailing child sent into convulsions when a singing nun knocks out her I.V., in the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker farce Airplane! (1980).

Trivia: An amiable American character actor with Midwest sensibilities, Gordon Jump spent most of his career appearing on television. A native of Centerville, OH, he got his start on the radio at station WIBW, Topeka following studies in broadcasting and communication at Kansas State University. While at the station, Jump wore many hats, including the hat of WIB the Clown, the host of a local children's show. He later worked on radio in Ohio until 1963 when he decided to move to Hollywood to launch an acting career. Through the '60s and '70s, he appeared on numerous series including Green Acres. In 1978, Gordon Jump was selected to play sweet-natured, slightly befuddled radio station manager Arthur Carlson on the classic sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. When the series ended in the early '80s, Jump returned to making guest appearances on other shows. Between 1991 and 1993, he reprised his role of Carlson on The New WKRP in Cincinnati. In 1997, Jump found steady work playing the "Lonely Repairman" in TV commercials for Maytag appliances. In addition to television, Jump also made occasional film appearances.