Cruising again with Bernie and Jill
All aboard ‘The Love Boat’ for a trip down memory lane with Jill Whelan and Bernie Kopell
‘Love, exciting and new, come on board, we’re expecting you ...” — THE LOVE BOAT THEME
From 1977 to 1987, singer Jack Jones sang those words at the top of “The Love Boat.”
And we all watched.
We had to. We wanted to find out who was sailing that week with Captain Merrill Stubing. (Gavin McLeod.)
Everyone from Ethel Merman to Milton Berle made those Love Boat journeys. Sadly, the ship docked in 1987, except for reruns and a few events such as Feb. 12’s charity event, “Stars in The House.”
And where did ‘Love Boat’ regulars, like Jill Whelan and Bernie Kopell go? I know. Dinner theatres, like Stage West, the long lamented Mississauga theatre-restaurant that closed in 2013.
That’s where I met those Love Boat staples. And charming they were, too.
Kopell played Dr. Adam Bricker on the show. And lunch with him at Stage West’s Haida Garden Restaurant in 2009 was fun.
“Don’t eat that salad,” he bellowed. “It’s dripping with orange goo. Better have it neat. Oh my God, do you know how dangerous that is?”
I dug in with my fork. I’ve always loved my salads swimming with dressing.
Kopell, who had just done 45 minutes of pool aerobics, was 76 when we met. He had two young kids. The youngest was seven. He was a virile guy and a veteran of that iconic TV series, “Get Smart.”
Best known for “The Love Boat,” though, Kopell called the show: “A middle-of-the-road romantic series that thrived on big stars along for the ride. I mean, I remember looking up and seeing Greer Garson, a gorgeous red-headed woman with a cellophane voice. She won an Oscar for heaven’s sake. So, what was she doing on “The Love Boat?”
“Because I love it,” she said. “Academy Award Winners, big Broadway stars, they all did ‘The Love Boat.’ People tuned in just to see who would be on board that week.”
Still friends with Gavin MacLead, Kopell said, “We were just so happy to have a job. Some of the young ones on the show thought they were made for better things, but we’d been around the block. We knew how good it was to work steady.”
Kopell was on “Get Smart,” “That Girl” and “When Things Were Rotten.” He also guest starred on everything from “The Beverly Hillbillies” to “Mary Tyler Moore.”
At Stage West in 2009, Kopell starred in a comedy called “Viagra Falls.” It packed the theatre.
“I love being live in front of people. You get this wonderful feedback. I love dinner theatre. Some critics say, ‘Oh no I never go there.’ I say @#%^& ’em. I’m lucky to be an actor. When I was a kid I drove a cab and sold Kirby Vacuum Cleaners. Well, ya know, this is better.”
Jill Whelan was the Captain’s daughter. We all watched her grow up on TV. She played Vicki Stubing on what looked like an endless cruise. When the ship finally docked, Whelan tried a new series that failed and then went into the world of live performance.
I met her at Stage West in 2011, starring in “Move Over Mrs. Markham.”
“Growing up on TV, I was lucky. Even though I was in a business that was crazy, I remained pretty centred. I had a terrific family to keep me down to earth when it was necessary,” she told me. “When young people get in trouble on TV it’s because the kid has been allowed to be boss. I never was. I always knew my mom was in control. In this business it’s tough when you’re a child but sometimes treated as an adult. That’s confusing.”
Whelan admitted she didn’t feel she was a star.
“I like the fact I can walk down the street, shop in the grocery store and not be recognized. That’s a plus. I go root at my son’s track meet and I’m just a mom.”
Whelan got her first job in a TV commercial for M&Ms. “I sent my picture to an agent. I’ve got to admit I had nerve.”
When she landed Vicki on The Love Boat in 1978, Jill Whelan was 12.
“I loved it. We all knew it was the guest stars that people turned the show on for, not us regulars. Still, it was a great life being on those Princess Cruise Ships.”
Since “The Love Boat,” Whelan ran a theatre school in Yardley, PA. And performed live on stage.
“I’m in awe of the people I worked with back in the day. It was a great ride.”
Whelan is 54. Kopell is 87. “The Love Boat” sails on in re-runs.