Rise and Fall on The Love Boat
Lauren Tewes gained fame as Julie McCoy, the beloved cruise director on The Love Boat. Starting at age 23 in 1977, she became a fan favorite alongside the show’s iconic cast. However, her career hit a major setback in 1984 when she was fired during the eighth season.
Executive producer Douglas Cramer revealed, “There were severe problems with Lauren… It was terribly disrupting.” Tewes struggled with c0cai.ne addiction, which eventually cost her the role. She candidly admitted, “All that money didn’t go into a bank. It went into my nose.”
Battle With Addiction
Tewes opened up in a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey about her addiction. She said she felt “guilty, shamed, humiliated, and disgusted.” Starting in the late 1970s, c0ca.ine was popular, but she felt isolated in her struggle.
“I begged for help, but no one stepped forward,” she recalled. Despite beginning withdrawal in 1980, it took years before she fully sobered up. She realized she was destroying herself and spent all her money on the dr.ug. “So, I stopped completely,” she told TV Guide.
New Beginnings in Theater and Life
After overcoming addiction, Tewes shifted focus to theater. This new platform allowed her to showcase her talents as an actor and director. She divorced twice and met Robert Nadir in 1993 during a theater production. After dating long-distance for a year, she moved to Seattle to be with him.
The couple married in 1996. Sadly, Robert was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 2002 and passed away that same year. Years earlier, in 1987, Lauren endured another tragedy—the loss of her one-month-old daughter, who was born prematurely.
Life After The Love Boat
Although her TV career never fully recovered, Tewes appeared on shows like Who’s the Boss?, The Fugitive, and Twin Peaks. She also reunited with the Love Boat cast in The Love Boat: The Next Wave. However, she was absent from the recent Princess Cruises Love Boat reunion cruise.
Her former castmates remember her fondly. Jill Whelan said they still share stories and laughter when Lauren visits. She praised Lauren’s acting, calling her “a very genuine, sweet human being and a spectacular actress.” Fred Grandy added that Lauren “recovered magnificently” and noted that her firing reflected the era’s harsh views on substance ab*se, calling her “a vi.c.tim of circumstance.”
A New Chapter: Cheese Steward and Radio Actress
Today, at age 70, Lauren Tewes stays active. She stars in the radio comedy-mystery Murder and the Murdochs. When not acting, she works as a cheese steward for a Seattle catering company, sharpening her culinary skills.
Reflecting on her journey, Tewes told the Los Angeles Times, “I hope and pray that’s all past now. I made the right choices by following my heart and sticking it through.”
