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12 classic Hollywood actors who appeared on 'The Love Boat'
No show had a better roster of guest stars than 'The Love Boat'
In terms of quality television, The Love Boat is never lofted alongside I Love Lucy or M*A*S*H as one of the greats. That being said, it had a certain quality that helped it last for nine seasons and 250 episodes.
That special je ne sais quoi about the show not only attracted viewers, it helped attract some of the most powerful actors and actresses from Hollywood's Golden Age. Besides a movie premiere in the 1950s, where else could you see the likes of Ethel Merman, Olivia de Havilland and Debbie Reynolds all in one place?
Here are some of the best, albeit rather random, guest stars from the nine seasons of The Love Boat. Welcome aboard!
1. Olivia de Havilland
Season 4, episode 23
The screen legend, who turned 100 earlier this month, starred as Aunt Hilly in the episode "The Duel/Two for Julie/Aunt Hilly."
2. Helen Hayes
Season 3, episode 28
No one embodied classic Hollywood quite like Hayes. The actress appeared as Agatha Winslow is the episode "No Girls for Doc/Marriage of Convenience/The Caller/The Witness."
3. Ethel Merman & Ann Miller
Season 5, episode 21
This one's a real showstopper! Merman and Miller joined forces to put on the special musical episode "The Musical/My Ex-Mom/The Show Must Go On/The Pest/My Aunt, the Worrier." The icons were joined by fellow legends Carol Channing and Della Reese.
4. Mickey Rooney
Season 6, episode 13
Rooney sat down with newlyweds, played by Maureen McCormick and Donny Osmond, to give some advice in "The Christmas Presence."
Side note: If Judy Garland were still alive at the time, could you imagine the two of them playing an older couple?
5. Ginger Rogers
Season 3, episode 10
The Academy Award–winning actress popped up in the two-part episode "The Critical Success/The Love Lamp Is Lit/Take My Boy Friend, Please/Rent a Family/The Man in Her Life."
6. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Season 5, episode 3
While Rogers didn't pair up with Fred Astaire for her appearance on The Love Boat, she co-starred with another classic leading man. Fairbanks, Jr., appeared in the same two-parter, as well as in the episode "Two Grapes on the Vine/Aunt Sylvia/Deductible Divorce."
7. Rita Moreno
Season 7, episode 7
By the time Moreno appeared on The Love Boat, she had already accomplished the EGOT. Despite the huge achievement, she still worked regularly, taking a part in the two-part episode "When Worlds Collide/The Captain and the Geisha/The Lottery Winners/The Emperor's Fortune."
8. Janet Leigh
Season 2, episode 9 / Season 8, episode 16
Do you think she checked behind the shower curtain when she got to her suite? The Pyscho actress appeared in two episodes, once in the second season episode "Till Death Do Us Part-Maybe/Locked Away/Chubs" and again in season eight's "Instinct/Unmade for Each Other/BOS."
9. Debbie Reynolds
Season 4, episodes 2 & 3 / Season 6, episode 14
The triple threat appeared in three episodes, the two-part "The Family Plan/The Promoter/May the Best Man Win/Forever Engaged/The Judges" and "Paroled to Love/First Impressions/Love Finds Florence Nightingale."
10. Donald O'Connor
Reynolds' Singin' in the Rain costar also appeared on the series three times, in the episodes "Isaac's Teacher/Seal of Approval/The Successor" (Season 4, episode 13), "Paying the Piper/Baby Sister/Help Wanted" (Season 8, episode 13), and "Second Banana/The Prodigy/What Goes Around" (Season 9, episode 19).
11. Shelley Winters
Season 6, episode 1 & 2
Winters was worthy of a two-part guest spot in the episodes "The Venetian Love Song/Down for the Count/Arrividerci, Gopher/The Arrangement."
SEE MORE: What ever happened to the real "Love Boat"?
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