Ted Lange Kissed Diahann Carroll '15 Times' onThe Love BoatSet 'Before She Realized I Was Messing Up on Purpose,' He Says

Mar. 15, 2025

Ted Lange in 2022 and Diahann Carroll in 1976.Photo:Jesse Grant/Getty Images; De Carvalho Collection/Getty

Jesse Grant/Getty Images; De Carvalho Collection/Getty

Ted Langeapparently made the most of his scenes withDiahann CarrollonThe Love Boat.The iconic series, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986 was famed for its A-list guest stars, and on the most recent episode ofSteve Kmetko’s podcastStill Here Hollywood, the host asked Lange, 77, to name to name his favorites.AlongsideGene Kelly, who appeared in a 1984 episode, Lange name-checked another Hollywood legend: Diahann Carroll.Diahann Carroll and Ted Lange in ‘The Love Boat’ in 1977.ABC/GettyThe Tony- and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and singer guest starred in a 1977Love Boatepisode in which her character, singer Roxy Blue, has an affair with her No. 1 fan, MSPacific Princesshead bartender Isaac Washington (Lange).Lange seems to have shared his character’s enthusiasm for thePorgy and Bessstar, intentionally botching one scene repeatedly to get more …face timewith her.“I kissed Diahann Carroll about 15 times before she realized I was messing up on purpose,” Lange recalled.But, he added, Carroll eventually caught on to his shenanigans.“So then she said, ‘Hey, hey, Cut that out,’ ” he explained. “I said, ‘Okay. I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful.’ ”Diahann Carroll in ‘The Love Boat’.ABC/GettyLange agreed with Kmetko who enthused that Carroll, whodied at the age of 84 in 2019, was “one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”“Gorgeous,” Lange said. “And she could kiss.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Lange added that he and costarFred Grandy, who played the ship’s chief purser Burl “Gopher” Smith, would frequently take the show’s storied guest stars out to lunch where they would pump them for tales of Hollywood’s Golden Age.“Fred Grandy and I had a thing called the Goldwyn Club where we would take the older guest stars and take them out to lunch,” he explained. “The great thing about our show is that we would have those rising likeTom HanksandMartin ShortandBilly Crystal, and those that had been retired and were coming back and kinda doing a — maybe even a swan song appearance.”Ted Lange in ‘The Love Boat’ in 1977.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via GettyLange and Carroll’s love story came early in the series, in the fifth episode ofThe Love Boat’s first season. But elsewhere in his conversation with Kmetko, the actor said he struggled to getromantic storylines featuring his character onto the show.“We had a producer [who] didn’t wanna write for me,” Lange claimed. “He didn’t want to write love stories for a Black character.”Ultimately, he said, costars Grandy andBernie Kopelltook it upon themselves to write a storyline involving Isaac. “They wrote a love story for me because this guy wouldn’t do it,” Lange said.

Ted Langeapparently made the most of his scenes withDiahann CarrollonThe Love Boat.

The iconic series, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986 was famed for its A-list guest stars, and on the most recent episode ofSteve Kmetko’s podcastStill Here Hollywood, the host asked Lange, 77, to name to name his favorites.

AlongsideGene Kelly, who appeared in a 1984 episode, Lange name-checked another Hollywood legend: Diahann Carroll.

Diahann Carroll and Ted Lange in ‘The Love Boat’ in 1977.ABC/Getty

ABC/Getty

The Tony- and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and singer guest starred in a 1977Love Boatepisode in which her character, singer Roxy Blue, has an affair with her No. 1 fan, MSPacific Princesshead bartender Isaac Washington (Lange).

Lange seems to have shared his character’s enthusiasm for thePorgy and Bessstar, intentionally botching one scene repeatedly to get more …face timewith her.

“I kissed Diahann Carroll about 15 times before she realized I was messing up on purpose,” Lange recalled.

But, he added, Carroll eventually caught on to his shenanigans.

“So then she said, ‘Hey, hey, Cut that out,’ ” he explained. “I said, ‘Okay. I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful.’ ”

Diahann Carroll in ‘The Love Boat’.ABC/Getty

Lange agreed with Kmetko who enthused that Carroll, whodied at the age of 84 in 2019, was “one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

“Gorgeous,” Lange said. “And she could kiss.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Lange added that he and costarFred Grandy, who played the ship’s chief purser Burl “Gopher” Smith, would frequently take the show’s storied guest stars out to lunch where they would pump them for tales of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

“Fred Grandy and I had a thing called the Goldwyn Club where we would take the older guest stars and take them out to lunch,” he explained. “The great thing about our show is that we would have those rising likeTom HanksandMartin ShortandBilly Crystal, and those that had been retired and were coming back and kinda doing a — maybe even a swan song appearance.”

Ted Lange in ‘The Love Boat’ in 1977.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Lange and Carroll’s love story came early in the series, in the fifth episode ofThe Love Boat’s first season. But elsewhere in his conversation with Kmetko, the actor said he struggled to getromantic storylines featuring his character onto the show.

“We had a producer [who] didn’t wanna write for me,” Lange claimed. “He didn’t want to write love stories for a Black character.”

Ultimately, he said, costars Grandy andBernie Kopelltook it upon themselves to write a storyline involving Isaac. “They wrote a love story for me because this guy wouldn’t do it,” Lange said.

source: people.com