Alex Carson
Airing on ABC from 1977 to 1987, The Love Boat one of the most popular television series of it’s time. A big part of the show’s popularity stemmed from the fact that the series, as well as it’s titular boat, proved the perfect vessel for numerous memorable guest stars to brush up on their television chops. The show had so many guest stars over it’s decade-long run that it’s hard to keep track of them all. But we’ll looking at the best in this video. Join Facts Verse as we explore the best guest stars on The Love Boat.
Gene Kelly
The first notable star that we’ll be taking a look at is Gene Kelly, who made a guest appearance on a two-part episode during The Love Boat’s seventh season. In that two-part episode, Gene played the character of a retired spy who happens onto The Love Boat’s titular vessel as it’s docked in Hong Kong. While a guest upon the ship, Gene’s character can seen attempting to seduce a female passenger played by Yvette Mimieux. The episode aired in 1984.
Vincent Price
When The Love Boat still a relatively new television phenomenon. It’s creative staff have an idea for a great Halloween-themed episode! During the show’s second season, horror icon Vincent Price invited on to play the character of a magician by the name of the Amazing Alonzo. The episode was a Halloween special, though it wasn’t all that scary. In the episode, Vincent’s magician character chooses to spend time with adoring fans that he meets on the boat instead of spending time with his wife, which causes said wife to have to find romance elsewhere.
The Temptations
The Temptations was one of the biggest musical groups of the era in which The Love Boat was airing, and the group actually ended up doing a guest-starring stint on the show. All members of the Temptations appeared as themselves in a memorable season-nine episode of the show, and it featured them singing their hit “Treat Her Like a Lady”.
Adam West
Adam West best known for portraying the titular character on the classic 1960s television series Batman. Another notable star that performed a guest-starring role on The Love Boat. He came on the show during it’s sixth season, and played a decidedly macho character by the name of Bob who poses romantic competition to the nerdy, yet successful, Ross. Actor Alan Young portrayed the character of Ross, while actress Holland Taylor played the woman that both Bob and Ross are pursuing.
Tori Spelling
The Love Boat executive produced by famous television luminary Aaron Spelling, who just so happens to be the father of actress Tori Spelling. As a result, Tori Spelling ended up appearing on The Love Boat many, many times over the course of it’s decade-long run. Tori’s most notable appearance on the program came during an episode towards the end of the show’s seventh season, in which she played the daughter of a congressman, played by Sam Groom, who had boarded the vessel with her father.
Frank Sinatra Jr.
He is another big star that appeared on The Love Boat during it’s seventh season. Frank Sinatra Jr. played the character of Preston Maddox, who was a popular pop singer. The conflict of the episode revolved around an unknown female singer who also happened to be a guest on the show’s titular vessel at the time. She asks the character of Preston to help get her an opportunity to perform for the boat’s guests. Preston ends up doing so, and the episode proved an incredibly memorable part of the show’s run.
Janet Jackson
Early on into her musical career, Janet Jackson guest starred on The Love Boat during the show’s eight season. Janet played the character of Delia Sparks, who became a love interest for bartender Isaac Washington, played by Ted Lange. The only problem was that much of the audience felt that Janet Jackson was far too young to play a love interest for Ted Lange’s character, resulting in some mild controversy. Janet was only 19 years old at the time that she made the guest-starring appearance.
Dana Plato
Dana Plato is another notable celebrity who guest-starred on The Love Boat. During the show’s eighth season, Dana played a young woman who boards the show’s titular cruise ship alongside her sister and mother. Jamie Lyn Bauer and Vera Miles played the sister and mother, respectively. Over the course of the episode, Dana’s character can seen looking for love, and she eventually finds it! Dana’s character of Patty Springer ends up falling in love with Christopher Knight’s character of Peter Barkan. Though Patty’s sister tries her best to keep the two apart because she wants to keep Patty from heart broken.
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Jamie Lee Curtis
In addition to being a Hollywood star herself, Jamie Lee Curtis also happens to be the daughter of Psycho star Janet Leigh. Both Jamie and Janet appeared on The Love Boat together not long after Jamie had made her breakout turn in 1978’s Halloween. Jamie and her mother appeared on The Love Boat during it’s second season, and Jamie would go on to become an even bigger Hollywood star after the appearance thanks to her subsequent roles in big films like A Fish Called Wanda, Trading Places, and True Lies.
Betty White
Audience members are likely still reeling over the passing of beloved television icon Betty White, who broke a record late into her lifetime for having the longest television career ever! Betty already a pretty big star by the time that she made her first guest-starring appearance on The Love Boat during it’s fourth season. And she would go on to appear on the show a total of five times over the course of it’s run. Betty became a fan-favorite guest star on the series, and the fame that she garnered from her guest appearances paved the way for the actress to appear on The Golden Girls in 1985.
Prior to her first appearance on The Love Boat, Betty White had become a hit with television audiences thanks to her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Before that, Betty had been a radio star, and even had her own radio show by the name of The Betty White Show. The Golden Girls rocketed the actress to greater fame than ever, and she went on to have another hit show before her death with Hot in Cleveland.
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Williams’ very first acting appearance came via The Love Boat. Prior to making the appearance, the star better known to the world as Miss America. Sadly, the title of Miss America would taken away from Vanessa as a result of nude photos that had taken before she won the pageant and later leaked to the public by way of the adult magazine Penthouse. Despite losing out on the title of Miss America, Vanessa has continued to make waves in popular culture thanks to numerous television appearances. Besides The Love Boat, some of the many television programs that Vanessa has appeared on over the course of her career include Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.
Sonny Bono
Like Betty White, Sonny Bono is a notable guest star that appeared in a total of five episodes of The Love Boat over the course of t’s run. The musician’s most notable guest-starring role saw him portraying a shock rocker in the vein of Alice Cooper and the members of Kiss. While Sonny remains best known for his musical work alongside former wife Cher, his guest-starring appearance on The Love Boat was far from the only acting gig that Sonny took on during his lifetime. Besides The Love Boat, Sonny could also seen in the films Airplane II: The Sequel and Men in Black.
Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson has both Betty White and Sonny Bono beat. As she appeared in a staggering 10 episodes of The Love Boat over the course of it’s 10-season run. She played multiple characters over the course of the show. And she’s such a beloved part of the series that she even asked back to take part in the show’s 2014 cast reunion. Of course, Florence is best known for her starring role on the hit 1969 television series The Brady Bunch.
Tom Hanks
After Vanessa Williams, Tom Hanks is another celebrity figure that ended up making his very first appearance acting on television via The Love Boat. Tom’s guest-starring role on the series came during it’s fourth season, in which he appeared as a character by the name of Rick Martin. Of all of the burgeoning celebrities to appear on The Love Boat over the course of it’s run, Tom is arguably the most impressive. Tom has gone on to become one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, with some of his most notable film works including Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, and Toy Story.
Andy Warhol
If Tom Hanks is one of the more famous guest stars to ever appear on The Love Boat, than Andy Warhol can certainly considered one of the more unique! Andy made a guest-starring appearance on the show as a caricature of himself during a ninth-season episode, and he would go on to pass away not long afterwards. Andy’s appearance on the show saw him poking fun at his own celebrity. Showcasing that the artist had a sense of humor about how he viewed.
Joan Rivers
Finally, Joan Rivers is another notable guest star that appeared on The Love Boat over the course of it’s run. Joan appeared in an episode of the show’s sixth season as a character that has some romantic insecurity as a result of her recently performed mastectomy.
While the aforementioned stars represent some of the most notable to have ever made guest-starring appearances on The Love Boat, there were many more celebrities that appeared on the show’s titular boat at one point or another. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that The Brady Bunch’s Florence Henderson appeared on The Love Boat 10 times over the course of it’s 10-season run. And that the show also provided both Tom Hanks and Vanessa Williams with their very first acting roles on television? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
