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: The son of vaudevillians, ebullient musical comedy star Bobby Van had a brief but rewarding MGM screen career in the early '50s. If for nothing else, Van will always be remembered as the ecstatic young fellow who made like a human pogo stick during an expansive production number in Small Town Girl (1953). When musicals went out of vogue, Van had to make do with atrocities like The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1965). He did rather better in nightclubs, first as a solo and then as partner to his old MGM buddy Mickey Rooney. In the early '70s, Van launched a profitable second career as a TV game show host; his last such stint before his death in 1980 was the syndicated nightly audience-participation series Make Me Laugh (1978-1979). Bobby Van was married to actress Elaine Joyce, a frequent celebrity contestant on her husband's TV programs.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the '70s.

Trivia: Slouch-shouldered, basset-faced character actor Abe Vigoda was the son of a Lower East Side tailor. Making his first stage appearance at 17, Vigoda used his GI Bill allotment to study at the American Theatre Wing. He then toiled away in obscurity for nearly 20 years before he was "discovered" by the public in the role of John the Gaunt in Joseph Papp's 1961 staging of Richard II. Another decade would pass before Vigoda attained worldwide fame as the treacherous Tessio in The Godfather. In 1974, he was tested for the minor role of Grimaldi in the upcoming TV sitcom Barney Miller; instead, he landed the role of dour, droopy-eyed Inspector Fish (and a good thing, too; the Grimaldi character was written out after only a few weeks). Vigoda remained with Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977, then was spun off into his own Fish series, which lasted until 1978. Bedeviled with legal problems during the early 1980s, Vigoda nonetheless was able to keep busy as a supporting actor in films (Joe vs. the Volcano, Look Who's Talking) and television; he also periodically returned to the stage, frequently in the Boris Karloff role in Arsenic and Old Lace. Abe Vigoda's 1990s projects have included such roles as Gus Molino in Harlem (1993) and Alaskan Grandpa in North (1994), a voice over stint in the 1994 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantom, and a recurring role in the 1991 weekly-TV revival of Dark Shadows. He continued to work steadily appearing in a variety of projects including Jury Duty, Good Burger, and Just the Ticket. He worked intermittently in the 21st century, but Vigoda did star in a well-liked ad for a candy bar that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl and he became a regular face at celebrity roasts where he was often the butt of old age jokes. Vigoda died in 2016, at age 94.

Trivia: The daughter of vaudevillians, 4'11" entertainer Nancy Walker had wanted to establish herself as a serious singer. But when Nancy auditioned for Broadway impresario George Abbott, he burst out laughing at her reading of the line "Is this where the aliens go to register?" and immediately cast her as the hoydenish Blind Date in his 1941 musical production Best Foot Forward. She went on to make her Hollywood debut in the film version of this production, then returned to Broadway, where she skyrocketed to stardom in such productions as On the Town (1944) and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin' (1948). She continued headlining on Broadway throughout the 1950s, occasionally showing up on television variety series, most memorably as the teen-aged president of the Milton Berle fan club. Despite her enormous success as a comedienne, Walker was the archetypal "laughing on the outside, crying on the inside" type in private life, undergoing several years of therapy to purge herself of her insecurities. When theatrical opportunities began drying up in the late 1960s, Nancy relied more and more on television for a living. She was featured as Rosie the waitress in a series of paper-towel commercials ("It's the quicker picker upper"), co-starred as Mildred the maid on MacMillan and Wife (1971-75), and, most memorably, was cast as Ida Morgenstern, the Jewish mama to end all Jewish mamas, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77) and Rhoda (1974-78). Though nominated for five Emmies, she never won the coveted statuette, a fact that seemed to bother her husband David Craig (a vocal coach whom she'd met when she lost her voice during Look Ma, I'm Dancing) more than Walker. Banking on her renewed celebrity, she attempted several TV starring vehicles of her own, but none lasted beyond the first season. She had better luck as a stage director, helming such theatrical productions of UTBU and A Pushcart Affair. In 1980, Walker made her film directorial debut with the Village People starrer Can't Stop the Music, produced by her then-manager Alan Carr. Nancy Walker's final regular TV-series stint was on the 1990 Fox Network weekly True Colors; two years later she died of lung cancer at the age of 71.