Obituary
The actor got his big break after landing the role of Billy Batson on the live-action show
Michael Gray, who starred as Billy Batson on the Seventies television show Shazam!, died on Oct. 16 in Palm Desert, California. A representative confirmed his death to Deadline. He was 75.
In 1972, Gray was cast in NBC’s The Little People. He appeared as student doctor Ronnie Collins on the first season alongside Brian Keith and Shelly Fabares. He would land his big break a few years later as Batson on the morning live-action show Shazam!, portraying a teenage kid who could turn into the flying superhero Captain Marvel (played by Jackson Bostwick and then John Davey) by uttering one word — “shazam.” The show aired for three seasons from 1974 to 1976.
Gray also featured in guest roles on other series including The Brady Bunch, appearing as Marcia’s boyfriend on a 1973 episode, Dynasty, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Flying Nun, and Room 222. His feature films during the Seventies included Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Myra Breckinridge.
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Most recently, Gray voiced “TV’s Michael Gray,” on four episodes of the FX comedy Archer from 2015 to 2019. In 2016, he featured in the AMC franchise Surge of Power, and had a cameo in 2023’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods, interacting with Zachary Levi’s Captain Marvel in a nod to the original series.
During a Comic-Con panel in 2012, Gray discussed his time as the star of Shazam! “I didn’t know the character or the story when I was initially cast, so I had to be a quick study – so it was fun and exhausting, challenging and thrilling, all at once,” he said. “It didn’t matter that it was on Saturday morning or primetime — though the fact that it was one of the first few live-action shows on Saturday morning was exciting. It truly was a thrilling show to work.”