Gavin MacLeod

In his three-hour interview, Gavin MacLeod (1931-2021) talks about changing his name from Allan See to Gavin MacLeod and his early years as an actor in theater, movies, and as a guest on such television series as Peter Gunn and The Untouchables. He discusses his appearance as a regular on McHale's Navy and how despite playing the character of "Happy Haines," it was an unhappy period in his life where he experienced a bout with alcoholism. He speaks earnestly about inspiring others to overcome such obstacles and describes his own career resurgence after appearing in Robert Wise's The Sand Pebbles and as a notable recurring character on Hawaii Five-O. MacLeod then details the roles in the two series for which he is best remembered and most beloved, playing "Murray Slaughter" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and "Captain Merrill Stubing" on The Love Boat. Regarding both series, he talks about how he was cast, his thoughts on the other regulars and the series creators, and he reminisces about memorable series episodes. He also mentions his then-recent talk show series Back on Course: A Ministry for Marriages, a series on the Trinity Broadcasting Network that he co-hosted with his wife, Patti. Karen Herman conducted the interview on January 3, 2003 in Santa Monica, CA.