Gavin McLeod, known for his role as Captain Meryl Stopping in “The Love Boat,” died Saturday at the age of 90. The American actor had recently suffered from health problems, although the cause of death was not revealed.

Gavin McLeod was anonymous for more than a decade, appearing in dozens of TV shows and in several films before landing his role on the 1970 “Mary Tyler Moore Show”, which was a hit from the start and is still a classic comic. . He initially auditioned to be the head of Moore TV, Lou Grant, a role that went to Ed Asner, eventually playing the role of newsroom leader.

Next, MacLeod enters “The Love Boat,” a romantic comedy movie on a cruise ship. Despite the scorn of critics, the series became hugely popular for 11 seasons.

His cheerful on-screen personality contrasts with his private life. In 2013, in his memoir “That’s Your Captain Speaks,” Gavin MacLeod confessed to his struggles with alcoholism in the 1960s and 1970s. He also reported that he lost his hair too early which made it difficult for him to find work as an actor: “I traveled the whole city looking for an agent, but nobody was interested in acting a bald young man,” he wrote “I knew what to do. I needed to buy a wig.” “Very quickly” changed his luck.

MacLeod, born in Allan See, took his first name from a French movie and another from a drama teacher at Ithaca College in New York, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career. He had four children from his first wife, Joan Rotvik, whom he divorced in 1972. He was an alcoholic and his drinking problems led to his second divorce, from Patti Steele.

After quitting drinking, Macleod and Steele married again in 1985. After that, the couple hosted a Christian radio program, “Back on Track: Ministry for Marriage.” [De volta ao curso: um ministério para os casamentos”].