Fred is lovingly known as Gopher by his millions of fans around the world who watched him became for 9 years in the 1970s hit series The Love Boat (1977). But, before Fred became well known as an actor, he went to “Phillips Exeter Academy” with David Eisenhower. Later, he became David’s best man when he married Julie Nixon. Then, Fred entered “Harvard University” at Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English.
Fred is a well-educated man and can speak fluently in both French and Arabic. Before he joined the cast of The Love Boat (1977), Fred did guest shots on many shows, including Love, American Style (1969), Mary Tyler Moore (1970), Phyllis (1975) (with Cloris Leachman) & Welcome Back, Kotter (1975) (with John Travolta). Then, came other guest spots on TV shows and a couple of movies, while still on The Love Boat (1977).
Fred Grandy was destined to become more than just an actor. In 1986, he decided to run for Congressman as a Republican for the state of Iowa, and won. He received 3,000 votes. He served 4 consecutive terms (1986-1995). While in Congress, he was very much involved with Agriculture, Education, Workforce, Standards of Official Conduct, House Ways and Means. In 1994, he went ahead and entered the Governor’s race but lost to his opponent, Terry Branstad. In 1995, he became both President and CEO for “Goodwill Industries”, a position he held until 2000. Fred even became a political commentator on National Public Radio. He has also, as a guest, taught at the “University of Maryland” (School of Public Affairs) about non-profit organizations.
In 2003, in Washington, DC., Fred became the host of the talk radio show “The WMAL Morning News” (WMAL-AM Radio). On (Friday night) May 7, 2004, while at home in Bethesda and reading his newspaper, he began to feel very uncomfortable for 3 hours. At first, he felt indigestion so bad he thought he had food poisoning. Then, he began having massive chest pains. Now, he had to call 911 and he was rushed to “Suburban Hospital” where he had an emergency Angioplasty. Fred showed amazing courage and began feeling better almost immediately. He blames his heart problems on genetics, it seems to run in his family. And, what helped was his strict diet as a vegetarian. Fred is back on the radio co-hosting his show with Andy Parks.
