Michael Gray, the star of the 1970s “Shazam!” television series, died on Friday in Palm Desert from natural causes. He was 75.
Gray first got his break in television in 1972 when he was cast in NBC’s “The Little People” alongside Brian Keith and Shelly Fabares. Early in his career, he held several supporting roles across series including playing Marcia’s boyfriend Jeff on “The Brady Bunch” as well as appearing on “Dynasty,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Room 222” and “The Flying Nun,” as well in films such as “Run, Simon, Run,” “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” and “Myra Breckinridge.”
In 1974, he joined the cast of “Shazam!” as Billy Batson, starring alongside John Davey and Les Tremayne in the series, which ran for three seasons until 1976. Gray became a teen idol, frequently appearing on the covers of Tiger Beat and other teen magazines.
“From my very first day on ‘Shazam!,’ Mike and Les [Tremayne] welcomed me like a king,” Davey said about Gray. “Mike was just a loving, sweet guy with a great sense of humor. He loved acting, loved doing the show and, in recent years, loved appearing at comic cons. He really enjoyed meeting and chatting with the fans. Mike was a wonderful man. I don’t think he ever stopped smiling.”
“Shazam!” was remastered in 2012 for distribution on DVD, which sparked a career resurgence for Gray. In recent years, he appeared in several episodes of the FX series “Archer” as one of the titular character’s boyhood idols, as well as appearing in “Surge of Power” on AMC’s “Comic Book Men.” When “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” released in 2023, Gray made a brief cameo where he interacted with Zachary Levi’s Captain Marvel as a nod to the original series.
Gray was born in Chicago on Sept. 2, 1951, and was raised in Miami Beach, Florida, before moving to Los Angeles to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and pursue his career in entertainment. After landing his role in “Shazam!,” Gray began to feel typecast and took a hiatus from acting. During this time, he worked in children’s theater education and men’s fashion, as well as owning and operating a floral business with his wife, Stacy.
Following the 2012 resurgence of “Shazam!,” Gray frequently attended fan conventions and reconnected with his fanbase while also pursuing roles in projects such as the “Surge of Power” franchise.
“I meet people [everyday] who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me as a child.’ ‘You helped me get through life.’ ‘You made me the better man, or woman, that I am today,’” Gray told Fanboy Planet in 2012. “And that’s a nice feeling. I didn’t know the show had that much strength and power back then.”
Gray is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray, whom he married in 1994; step-children Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper; and son-in-law Lee Barker.
