NEW YORK — Michael Gray, who starred in the 1970s TV show “Shazam!,” has died. He was 75.

The former teen heartthrob died from natural causes last week in California, according to People.

Gray played the alter ego of the caped crusader known to common folks as Billy Batson in 28 episodes of the Saturday morning superhero series that ran from 1974 to 1976. He also played Marcia Brady’s boyfriend on a 1973 episode of “The Brady Bunch.”

Gray was featured in teen magazines including Tiger Beat, which was reportedly published by his manager.

He told Pop Culture Retro in 2023 that he was discovered in junior high school while playing volleyball in Florida

“Some lady walked up to me, I don’t know who she was, and she said ‘Are you an actor? Would you consider being an actor?'” he recalled.

Gray claimed he hadn’t given the idea much thought until someone contacted his parents to follow-up on that offer. He said he soon found himself being cast in plays and sent on auditions that largely went well.

Acting agencies continued to keep him busy over the years with projects including the “Flying Nun,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” and “The Little People.”

He later complained that typecasting prevented him from landing future parts.

“I had odd jobs here and there and then I found a lady, got married and ran a flower shop for many years,” Gray said during a Q&A reported on by Comic Book Resources.

That lady was Stacy Benon Gray, whom he married in 1994.

When the DC Comics Shazam character was brought to the big screen in 2023 for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” Gray scored a small role as a man on the street.

“I loved doing it,” he said in a 2024 interview with the “Hollywood Obsessed” podcast. “It was like the good old days.”

Gray claimed that at the height of his popularity he sometimes couldn’t leave his apartment or attend events without being mobbed by enthusiastic fans. When he attended an Osmonds concert in California, he said he had to be hidden in a broom closet for his own safety.

“It was still fun,” he recalled.

Gray is survived by his wife and stepchildren, Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper.

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