Career
MacLeod made his television debut in 1957 on The Walter Winchell File at the age of 26. His first movie appearance was a small, uncredited role in The True Story of Lynn Stuart in 1958. Soon thereafter, he landed a credited role in I Want to Live!, a 1958 prison drama starring Susan Hayward. He was soon noticed by Blake Edwards, who in 1958 cast him in the pilot episode of his NBC series Peter Gunn, two guest roles on the Edwards CBS series Mr. Lucky in 1959, and as a nervous and harried Navy yeoman in Operation Petticoat, with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. Operation Petticoat proved to be a breakout role for MacLeod, and he was soon cast in two other Edwards' comedies, High Time with Bing Crosby and The Party with Peter Sellers.
In December 1961, he landed a guest role on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore. MacLeod also had guest appearances on Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, Ben Casey, The Big Valley, Hogan's Heroes, Ironside, and My Favorite Martian. He played the role of a drug pusher, "Big Chicken", in two episodes of the first season of Hawaii Five-O.
His first regular television role began in 1962 as Joseph "Happy" Haines on McHale's Navy, but he was frustrated with the role's limitations. He later described Haines as "not much of a character" who had "two lines a week", and was sometimes simply used as a prop: "Sometimes they'd have me stand there. They'd shoot on a back lot, and they'd use me to cover something they didn't want anybody to see on the back lot." McLeod left the show after two seasons to appear as Signalman 2nd Class Crosley in the film The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen.
MacLeod's second breakout role, as Murray Slaughter on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, won him lasting fame and two Golden Globe Award nominations. His starring role as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat, his next television series, was broadcast in 90 countries worldwide, between 1977 and 1986, spanning nine seasons. His work on that show earned him three Golden Globe nominations. Co-starring with him was a familiar actor and best friend Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker and Ted Lange as bartender Isaac Washington. Lange said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show of MacLeod that "Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred (Grandy) lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends."
For the summer of 1986, immediately following the finale of The Love Boat, MacLeod spent the summer touring in a production of Never Too Late (play) as Harry Lambert, and in a nod to The Love Boat, Marion Ross who played his wife in the finale toured with him as his wife in this production. In August of that summer the play was presented at Denver's historic Elitch Theatre.
MacLeod became the global ambassador for Princess Cruises in 1986. He played a role in ceremonies launching many of the line's new ships. In 1997, MacLeod joined the Love Boat cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
After The Love Boat, MacLeod toured with Michael Learned (of The Waltons) in Love Letters. He made several appearances in musicals such as Gigi and Copacabana between 1997 and 2003. In December 2008, he appeared with the Colorado Symphony in Denver.
MacLeod and his wife were hosts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for 17 years, primarily hosting a show about marriage called Back on Course. MacLeod appeared in Rich Christiano's Time Changer, a movie about time travel and how the morals of society have moved away from the Bible. He also plays the lead role in Christiano's 2009 film The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.
