Entertainment · Celebrity · 2 hrs ago
Michael Gray, star of 1970s Shazam! series, dies at 75
Actor Michael Gray died at 75 of natural causes, his representatives said.
He died on October 16.
Gray was best known for playing Billy Batson in the TV series Shazam!
from 1974 to 1976.
Across 28 episodes, Batson transformed into superhero Captain Marvel by saying “Shazam!”
The series was based on DC comic characters and was among the first live-action shows shown on Saturday mornings.
Gray later made a cameo in the 2023 film Shazam!
Fury of the Gods.
He is survived by his wife, stepchildren and son-in-law.
Michael Gray, the star of the 1970s television series Shazam!, died at 75.
He died of natural causes on October 16 in Palm Desert, California.
Gray played Billy Batson in the CBS series, which aired from 1974 to 1976.
He later returned to the Shazam! story with a cameo in the 2023 film Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
He is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray, two stepchildren and a son-in-law.
- Who
- Michael Gray, actor and star of the 1970s Shazam! television series.
- What
- He died at 75 of natural causes.
- When
- October 16. The sources say he was 75.
- Where
- Palm Desert, California.
- Why
- The sources say he died of natural causes.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Gray was cast in the NBC series The Little People.
Gray played Billy Batson on the CBS series Shazam!.
Shazam! was released on DVD, prompting Gray to attend fan conventions.
Gray appeared in a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Gray died of natural causes in Palm Desert.
- Age
- 75
- Date of death
- October 16
- Place of death
- Palm Desert, California
- Shazam! role
- Billy Batson
- Shazam! run
- 1974–1976
- Survivors
- Wife Stacy Benon Gray, stepchildren Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper, and son-in-law Lee Barker
4 sources
What people are saying
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
I meet people [everyday] who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me as a child.’ ‘You helped me get through life.’ ‘You made me the better man, or woman, that I am today,’
just a loving, sweet guy with a great sense of humor.