After seven unforgettable years as the charming cruise director on the ship that promised love, this actress faced harsh backlash when her very public battle with cocaine led to her being unceremoniously tossed overboard from Hollywood’s spotlight.
Once beloved by millions, her career and personal life sank amid the storm. Now, at 70, she has reinvented herself—not as a TV star, but as a cheese steward for a catering company in Seattle.
Curious who she is? Keep reading to discover the identity of this remarkable woman!
When The Love Boat first set sail in 1977, it quickly became the show that truly offered “something for everyone.”
Week after week, viewers eagerly followed the charming escapades aboard the Pacific Princess, featuring beloved characters like Captain Stubing and his daughter Vicki (played by Gavin McLeod and Jill Whelan), the witty Doc (Bernie Kopell), the lovable Gopher (Fred Grandy), the smooth bartender Isaac (Ted Lange), and at the heart of it all—the young, vibrant cruise director Julie McCoy, brought to life by 23-year-old Lauren Tewes.
By season eight of the beloved series, Golden Globe-nominated Lauren Tewes—who won the coveted role as Julie McCoy over 100 other hopefuls—was noticeably missing from the Pacific Princess. Her absence was filled by Patricia Klous, who stepped in as her on-screen sister and the new cruise director, Judy McCoy.
In a 1985 interview with TV Guide, executive producer Douglas Cramer revealed the harsh truth behind Tewes’s departure:
“There were severe problems with Lauren. Not just recently, but throughout her entire seven years on The Love Boat… It was terribly disruptive.”
The star was officially fired in 1984 due to her struggle with cocaine addiction.
Reflecting candidly on her battle, Tewes admitted,
“All that money didn’t go into a bank. It went into my nose. I wanted to be one of the gang. I’m ashamed to say it, but it’s true. The first time I tried cocaine was right after I landed the role on The Love Boat. I was on my way to a party when my date said, ‘Let’s do drugs.’ I thought, ‘What the heck?’”
She described the drug’s powerful grip:
“The feeling was an incredible euphoria. You think you’re fine, stronger, braver. I thought it gave me the courage I lacked. It was like going to Oz and asking for courage. But instead, I got cocaine.”
In 2014, Lauren Tewes opened up to Oprah Winfrey about her long, painful battle with cocaine addiction.
“I felt guilty, ashamed, humiliated, disgusted, and deeply disappointed in myself,” she revealed. “I knew I had gotten into a situation I couldn’t get out of on my own. I secretly begged and begged for someone to help me. For me, it was cocaine in the 1970s and early 1980s—a popular drug at the time—but if you asked anyone, I was the only one in all of Hollywood using it. It was just me, and no one wanted to help.”
Tewes began the difficult process of withdrawal in 1980, navigating the struggle mostly alone. Though it took several years, she eventually found sobriety.
“It finally sank in that I wasn’t having a good time anymore—that I was slowly killing myself and burning through all my money. So, I stopped completely,” she told TV Guide.
Family Tragedy and New Beginnings
After getting sober, Tewes turned her focus to theater, finding a fresh stage to express her talents both as an actor and director.
During this period, she went through two divorces before meeting Robert Nadir in 1993 while performing in a play with the Arizona Theater Company. After dating long-distance for a year, she made the move to Seattle to be with him.
“I decided to change my whole life, which has been a wonderful thing for me,” Lauren said in 1998. “The theater community here has been incredibly welcoming and supportive.”
Lauren and Robert married in 1996, but heartbreak struck again in 2002 when Robert was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). He passed away that same year at just 46 years old. This wasn’t the first devastating loss Lauren had endured—back in 1987, she suffered the tragic death of her premature baby daughter, who lived only a month.
A Victim of Circumstance
Though her career never fully bounced back, Lauren continued to make occasional appearances on TV, including roles on Who’s the Boss?, The Fugitive, and Twin Peaks. She even reunited with some original cast members in an episode of The Love Boat: The Next Wave, where her character shared a relationship with Doc.
However, Lauren was noticeably absent from the recent Princess Cruises’ Love Boat at Sea Celebration—a seven-night themed cruise featuring several original cast members like Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Jill Whelan, and Fred Grandy, who also served as a congressman from 1987 to 1995. Sadly, Gavin McLeod, who played Captain Stubing, passed away in 2021 at the age of 90.
Though Lauren Tewes wasn’t able to attend, she was far from forgotten by her former Love Boat co-stars.
People reports that Jill Whelan, now 57, often stays in touch with Lauren, who frequently flies in for weekend visits filled with cooking, laughter, and shared stories.
“We should talk about our pal, who is like a sister to all of us,” said the former child star. “She’s a genuinely sweet human being and, by the way, a spectacular actress. When I watch The Love Boat episodes now, I marvel at how effortlessly she moved between dramatic scenes and comedy. She’s one of our favorites, and we absolutely adore her.”
Fred Grandy also reflected on Lauren’s difficult departure from the show, praising her resilience. “She has recovered magnificently,” he said, while acknowledging that “the circumstances of her departure were not so lovely.”
Grandy, now 76, explained, “This was the early ’80s—substance abuse on set was treated as a punishable offense. It wasn’t seen as a healthcare issue, not understood like it is today. To some extent, she was a victim of circumstance because the attention, care, and therapy she needed were instead meted out as discipline.”
Today, Lauren Tewes can be heard captivating audiences on Murder and the Murdochs, a comedy-mystery radio series produced by Imagination Theatre.
When she’s not acting, the now 70-year-old culinary artist dedicates her time to honing her craft as a cheese specialist with a Seattle-based catering company.
“I hope and pray that all of that is behind me now,” Tewes told the Los Angeles Times. “I believe I made the right choices—by staying in the business even when it seemed like it was trying to push me out, by following my own heart and drive, and by choosing to stick it through.”
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