• This Is Your Captain Speaking

  • My Fantastic Voyage through Hollywood, Faith, and Life
  • By: Gavin MacLeod
  • Narrated by: Gavin MacLeod
  • Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (84 ratings)

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This Is Your Captain Speaking  By  cover art

This Is Your Captain Speaking

By: Gavin MacLeod
Narrated by: Gavin MacLeod
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Publisher's summary

The remarkable life, career, and faith journey of Gavin MacLeod, the beloved star of The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

For 16 years, millions of Americans welcomed Gavin MacLeod into their living rooms every Saturday night. This veteran of stage and screen transformed himself from a seasoned character actor into the leading, lovable father figure of Captain Merrill Stubing in The Love Boat at the height of TV’s boom years.

From his humble theatrical beginnings in Upstate New York to Radio City Music Hall and on to Hollywood, Gavin MacLeod was on the fast track to success. However, a few hard life lessons - like dealing with a divorce - taught him that the key to happiness can only be found through a deep faith in God, and he feels his work for Christ is more important than any award.

The consummate storyteller, Gavin shares his fondest memories of meeting and working with countless stars, such as Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Gregory Peck, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, Ella Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Milton Berle, and Fred Astaire.

In This Is Your Captain Speaking, Gavin shares:

  • Behind-the-scenes accounts from the early days of New York theatre, TV shows, and Hollywood
  • Personal stories never shared before on the death of his father, struggles with depression, and his painful divorce
  • How he found an enduring faith in the hostile world of entertainment, calling on God and never giving up

A nostalgic look back at the golden era of American television, This Is Your Captain Speaking will take listeners on an uplifting and inspiring journey into the life of one of TV’s most beloved actors.

Praise for This Is Your Captain Speaking:

“Gavin epitomizes the old-fashioned concept of a gentleman. He is a loving, generous, and authentic seeker of God’s truth. His life story speaks for itself.” (Kathie Lee Gifford)

©2013 Thomas Nelson (P)2013 Thomas Nelson

What listeners say about This Is Your Captain Speaking

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Get to know Gavin as a person, not the actor

You can learn a lot from reading about another person’s life. I suppose this is the key reason I enjoy reading biographies of interesting people. However, I think an autobiography is even better because you get a person’s experiences & insights directly from him, rather than risk the errors that could appear in the research of the most careful biographer. An even better situation is if you can get the autobiography in the person’s own voice. Going beyond a telling of the literal facts, someone relating his own stories will add emphasis, drama, comedy and emotion in ways that another narrator will miss. The stories really come to life because he lived it.

This is one of many reasons that makes Gavin’s book special. If you purchase the audiobook version you will hear his first-hand stories that make up his fascinating life in his own recognizable and appealing voice... and you quickly connect with him on what impacted his life on a deeper level.

I can conclusively say that Gavin’s book was the best autobiography / biography that I have read. Once I started, I found it difficult to stop, and that’s always a sign of a good book. Gavin pulls you into his life story and you want to see how he eventually arrived to the parts of his life that are familiar to us.

I won’t provide a summary of Gavin’s life history as you can get this from other reviewers or Internet sites. You may already know that his life story is connected with many well-known people and events in entertainment history, and this is an enjoyable part of his book.

But what I found much more interesting in the book are the “life lessons” that Gavin wants to share with his readers that he has learned from his own experiences. He shares many in the book, and they naturally emerge as he relates his experiences. Like all of us, Gavin has high and low points in his life. In his book he reflects on these joys and regrets, and clearly Gavin desires that other people learn from them.

You also quickly pick up from his book that Gavin loves people, and that people are very important to him. He expresses a lot of delight in connecting with others, and he desires that he connect with you, the reader, as well.

While I saw & enjoyed the movie Timechanger, I missed his movie The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry. From this book I realize I’ve missed a great movie. I will have to get it!

Lastly – I found the book both entertaining and inspiring. The book will take you beyond knowing Gavin as an actor and stage performer, and you will get to know him as a person.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Gavin MacLeod

Found the book to be interesting. Author's narration was fairly good. I thought he went into his next chapters rather fast.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

More then the love boat!

What made the experience of listening to This Is Your Captain Speaking the most enjoyable?

Its sad and happy and just a wonderful story

What did you like best about this story?

Gavin Was so open with his life , a interesting man

Which character – as performed by Gavin MacLeod – was your favorite?

Loved the Captain , made me want to go on the ocean for my holidays

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Welcome aboard

Any additional comments?

a very good story and well spoken

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Conversation with a friend

Very interesting. I enjoyed hearing about his life and career. He did a lot of good things.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story from a sincere man!

I so enjoyed this book. It was honest, informative, deep, and more. I enjoyed and appreciated the sections about Gavin’s faith greatly but it didn’t consume the book. It’s filled with names and memories of people of the past long gone but never forgotten that changed theater and TV. Only disappointing part is I didn’t know of this book sooner. I would have like to have gotten Mr. MacLeod’s autograph and just maybe let him know how awesome he was!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A Wonderful Story by A Wonderful Man

To hear the authors words in their own voice is a special treat. I wish I would have listened to this before Gavin’s passed last year. I would have written him a note of thanks for sharing his life’s work with his adoring fans. I am happy to say I met and talked to Gavin at one of the screenings of his Jonathan Sperry movie. He was a gratuitous and humble man to talk to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An honest story with our favorite Captain

As we live our lives we travel roads of joy roads of sadness and hopefully a road of acceptance




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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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welcome aboard this fun voyage

I love d it because Gavin narrated it and expressed his true feelings bas he went along the ups and downs of life and the acting life. I highly recommend this to anyone

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Absolutely Wonderful

The Title of this review says it all! Gavin we miss you! Rest in Peace!

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What a joy!

What a joy to hear about his life. I felt as if he and I were sitting at a coffeehouse or other some other quaint spot having an casual conversation.

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