Gavin MacLeod, star of Love Boat and Mary Tyler Moore, 90

WASHINGTON — Gavin MacLeod, who played a wise-cracking news writer on the classic 1970s US sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the hospitable cruise ship captain on The Love Boat, died on Saturday aged 90. His nephew, Mark See, confirmed his death to Variety. No cause of death was given, it said, but Mr. MacLeod’s health had declined in recent months. The bald Mr. MacLeod often played villains on TV before being cast in the acerbic comic role of Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran on CBS from 1970-1977 and was one of the most honored shows of its decade, winning 29 Emmy Awards. Mr. MacLeod was then signed for the starring role of Captain Merrill Stubing on ABC’s The Love Boat, which ran for 10 seasons from 1977-1987. The series, which featured guests stars in each episode as passengers looking for romance aboard a cruise ship, was not a favorite of critics but it was frequently amusing and popular with viewers. “I was a young kid with a bald head so I only played pimps, perverts, woman beaters and child molesters,” Mr. MacLeod told People magazine in 1978. That changed forever after he was cast on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, joining a talented cast that included Ms. Moore, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Betty White, Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman. Mr. MacLeod battled alcoholism during his career and became a devout Christian, starring in the Christian-themed film The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry in 2009. He had four children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and three stepchildren from his second marriage. — Reuters