Michael Gray, who starred in the 1970s Saturday morning children’s show Shazam! While Billy Batson, the teenager who in a puff of smoke transformed into the superhero Captain Marvel, died Friday in Palm Desert of natural causes, a family spokesperson announced.
Gray was frequently on the cover of Tiger Beat and other popular teen magazines as he landed his first series role as a student doctor named Ronnie Collins in the first season of the 1972-74 NBC sitcom. The little peoplewith Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.
Gray’s Batson only had to say one word – “shazam” – to transform into Captain Marvel (played by Jackson Bostwick and then John Davey) in the live-action CBS show that aired for three seasons (1974-76). Watch the show opening here.
“I remember the time when we were experimenting with the transition from Billy to Captain Marvel, using some kind of flash, and poof – the smoke would clear and I was a little singed,” Gray recalled in an interview with Comic Book Resources. “They changed that very quickly. It definitely didn’t work.”
Gray later made an appearance in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), where he interacted with Zachary Levi’s Captain Marvel in a nod to the original series.
Michael Gray with John Davey in a promotional photo for “Shazam!”
Everett Collection
Born in Chicago on September 2, 1951, Gray grew up in Miami Beach before heading to Hollywood, where he studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.
He made his on-screen debut in a 1969 episode. Room 222then introduced himself The flying nun, Marcus Welby, MD And The Brady Bunchwhere he played Marcia’s boyfriend in a 1973 episode (when she works at the local ice cream shop).
He also appeared in the 1970 ABC television film with Burt Reynolds. Run, Simon, run and in the functionalities Beyond the Valley of the Dolls And Myra Breckinridge.
Meanwhile, Gray’s manager, Tiger Beat publisher Charles Laufer, kept him in the spotlight until Shazam! has arrived.
“I didn’t know the character or the story when I was first cast, so I had to study quickly — so it was fun and exhausting, challenging and exciting, all at the same time,” Gray once said during a Comic-Con panel. “It didn’t matter if it was Saturday morning or prime time, although the fact that it was one of the first live shows on Saturday morning was exciting.”
Being a teen idol got gray after a while, he noted. “They wanted me to be the next David Cassidy,” he said. “I was on the cover of Tiger Beat often, and it worked. Back then, when the show was on and all the fan media coverage was going on, I couldn’t leave my house. It was pretty ugly sometimes.
Eventually, Gray felt he was being typecast and stopped playing. He took a job teaching children’s theater, worked in men’s fashion, and owned and operated a floral business in West Hollywood with his wife, Stacy.
The liberation of Shazam! on DVD in 2012, opened the door to fan conventions.
“I can’t tell you how upset I am. Shazam! is such an important part of my life, and for about 30 years it’s just been collecting dust,” Gray told Derek McCaw about Planet Fanboy at the time. “I meet people 10 times a week who ask me: ‘When will Shazam! will it be released on DVD?’ “Have they put it back on TV yet?” I didn’t know how much I would love Shazam! until years later I discovered how much influence my character and the show had on people’s lives.
“There were some really good morals on the show, and I meet people (every day) who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me when I was a kid… You helped me get through life… You made me the best man, or woman, that I am today.’ And it’s a nice feeling. I didn’t know the series had so much strength and power at the time.
In recent years, Gray has experienced a career resurgence; he played “TV’s Michael Gray”, one of Sterling Archer’s childhood idols, in four episodes of the FX comedy Archer from 2015 to 2019 and Will E. Bee in the AMC franchise Power surge from 2016 to 20.
Besides his wife, whom he married in 1994, survivors include his stepchildren, Ryan and Cooper, and his son-in-law, Lee.
“Mike was just a loving, kind guy with a great sense of humor,” Davey said in a statement. “He loved acting, loved doing the show, and in recent years loved appearing at comic-cons. He really enjoyed meeting and talking with fans. Mike was a wonderful man – I don’t think he ever stopped smiling.”
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