Fred Grandy : Biography, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Address, Filmography (Love Boat)

Fred is lovingly known as Gopher by his millions of fans around the world who watched him became for 9 years in the 1970s hit series "The Love Boat".

But, before Fred became well known as an actor, he went to "Phillips Exeter Academy" with David Eisenhower. Later he became David's best man when he married Julie Nixon.

Then Fred entered "Harvard University" at Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor's Degree in English. Fred is a very educated man and can speak fluently in both French and Arabic.

Before he joined the cast of "The Love Boat", Fred did guest shots on many shows, including "Love, American Style", "Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Phyllis" (with Cloris Leachman) & "Welcome Back Kotter" (with John Travolta). Then came other guest spots on TV shows and a couple of movies, while still on "The Love Boat".

Fred Grandy was destined to become more than just an actor. In 1986,he decided to run for Congressman as a Republican for the state of Iowa, and won. He received 3,000 votes. He served 4 consecutive terms (1986-1995). While in Cogress he was very much involved with Agriculture, Education, Workforce, Standards of Official Conduct, House Ways and Means.

In 1994, he went ahead and entered the Governor's race but lost to his opponent, Terry Branstad. In 1995, he became both President and CEO for "Goodwill Industries", a position he held until 2000.

Fred even became a political commentator on National Public Radio. He has also, as a guest, taught at the "University of Maryland" (School of Public Affairs) about non-profit organizations. In 2003, in Washington,DC., Fred became the host of talk radio show "The WMLA Morning News" (WMLA-AM Radio).

On (Friday night) May 7, 2004, while at home in Bethesda and reading his newspaper, he began to feel very uncomfortable for 3 hours. At first he felt indigestion so bad he thought he had food poisoning. Then he began having massive chest pains. Now he had to call 911 and he was rushed to "Suburban Hospital" where he had an emergency Angioplasty. Fred showed amazing courage and began feeling better almost immediately. He blames his heart problems on genetics, it seems it runs in his family. And, what helped was his strict diet as a vegetarian. Fred is back on the radio co-hosting his show with Andy.

. Creation date : 2003/07/01 by stals

. On TV Guide : Fred Grandy Videos, Interviews, and Clips on TVGuide's Online Video Guide