Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`Gavin MacLeod was an actor whose work spanned six decades. He is best known as the Captain of The Love Boat and as a news writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

“`After serving in the United States Air Force, he moved to New York City and worked at Radio City Music Hall while looking for work. He made his television debut on The Walter Winchell File. Soon after, he garnered a role in I Want to Live!, a 1958 prison drama starring Susan Hayward. He was noticed by Blake Edwards, who in 1958 cast him in the pilot episode of his NBC series Peter Gunn, several guest parts on Edwards’ CBS series Mr. Lucky in 1959, and in  Operation Petticoat, with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. The flick proved to be a breakout role for MacLeod and he was cast in two Edwards comedies, High Time with Bing Crosby and The Party with Peter Sellers.

“`Other film roles included Pork Chop Hill, The Gene Krupa Story, The Sand Pebbles, The Comic, and Kelly’s Heroes. On television, he guest-starred on The Untouchables, Death Valley Days, Dr. Kildare,  The Dick Van Dyke Show, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Gomer Pyle U. S. M. C., The Munsters, The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan’s Heroes, It Takes a Thief, My Favorite Martian, The Man From U. N. C. L. E.,Combat!, The Rat Patrol, The Big Valley, The Flying Nun and Murder She Wrote. He was also a regular during the first two seasons of McHale’s Navy.

“`MacLeod served as the honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades for five years. Sugar Ray Leonard succeeded him in 2011.  On February 28, 2011, Gavin celebrated his eightieth birthday aboard Golden Princess on Princess Cruises in Los Angeles.

“`Gavin MacLeod (above right) was ninety.

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“`B. J. Thomas was a rock crooner who had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s. They include (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, his cover of I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, Rock and Roll Lullaby, Mighty Clouds Of Joy, Hooked on a Feeling, I Just Can’t Help Believing, and an Oscar-winner Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head featured in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  B. J. THOMAS –>

“`A couple of years back,  I had the pleasure in attending a B. J. Thomas concert in Laughlin, Nevada. The ticket was only twenty-five dollars. He played in the exact same hall where I had performed a few years earlier in a national karaoke contest. He was so warm and low-key and the audience sang along with every tune.

“`B. J. Thomas was seventy-eight.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 29th, 2021 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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