Fredrick Lawrence "Fred" Grandy (born June 29, 1948) is a former actor who became a member in 1986 of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa.

Grandy was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree in English from Harvard University in 1970 and is conversant in both French and Arabic. He played the ship's purser Burl "Gopher" Smith for nine years on the American television series The Love Boat. Earlier, he was a recurring character on the 1970s sitcom Maude, playing the boyfriend of Maude's daughter Carol (played by Adrienne Barbeau).

Unknown to most television viewers during the height of his The Love Boat stardom, Grandy's political interests preceded his acting career. Prior to college, he was the roommate of David Eisenhower (grandson of President Eisenhower) at Phillips Exeter Academy and later was best man at Eisenhower's wedding to Julie Nixon. He also served as a speechwriter for Congressman Wiley Mayne (R-Iowa).

Grandy, who campaigned as a Republican, won the election in 1986 by 3,000 votes. Although he tried to distance himself from his acting career, he told People magazine, "If there were no Gopher, there would be no Fred Grandy for Congress."

During his four terms in Congress, he served on a variety of committees, including House Ways and Means, Agriculture, Standards of Official Conduct, and Education and the Workforce. While a member of Congress, Grandy won eight "Watchdog of the Treasury" awards. In 1994, he entered the Republican primary race for Governor of Iowa against incumbent Terry Branstad; he lost the election by 4%.

Grandy has three children, Marya, Monica, and Charlie.

Grandy later served as president and CEO of Goodwill Industries from 1995–2000, became a political commentator on National Public Radio, and served as a visiting professor teaching a course on non-profit organizations at the University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Affairs. In 2003, Grandy was named co-host of The Grandy & Andy Morning Show, a conservative radio news/talk show on 630 WMAL-AM in Washington, D.C. His co-host is radio veteran Andy Parks. Grandy is a member of the Episcopal Church.

Fred is lovingly known as Gopher by his millions of fans around the world who watched him became for 9 years in the 1970s hit series "Love Boat, The" (1977). But, before Fred became well known as an actor, he went to "Phillips Exeter Academy" with David Eisenhower. Later, he became David's best man when he married Julie Nixon (I). Then, Fred entered "Harvard University" at Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor's Degree in English. Fred is a well-educated man and can speak fluently in both French and Arabic. Before he joined the cast of "Love Boat, The" (1977), Fred did guest shots on many shows, including "Love, American Style" (1969), "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970), "Phyllis" (1975) (with Cloris Leachman) & "Welcome Back, Kotter" (1975) (with John Travolta). Then, came other guest spots on TV shows and a couple of movies, while still on "Love Boat, The" (1977). Fred Grandy was destined to become more than just an actor. In 1986, he decided to run for Congressman as a Republican for the state of Iowa, and won. He received 3,000 votes. He served 4 consecutive terms (1986-1995). While in Congress, he was very much involved with Agriculture, Education, Workforce, Standards of Official Conduct, House Ways and Means. In 1994, he went ahead and entered the Governor's race but lost to his opponent, Terry Branstad. In 1995, he became both President and CEO for "Goodwill Industries", a position he held until 2000. Fred even became a political commentator on National Public Radio. He has also, as a guest, taught at the "University of Maryland" (School of Public Affairs) about non-profit organizations. In 2003, in Washington, DC., Fred became the host of the talk radio show "The WMAL Morning News" (WMAL-AM Radio). On (Friday night) May 7, 2004, while at home in Bethesda and reading his newspaper, he began to feel very uncomfortable for 3 hours. At first, he felt indigestion so bad he thought he had food poisoning. Then, he began having massive chest pains. Now, he had to call 911 and he was rushed to "Suburban Hospital" where he had an emergency Angioplasty. Fred showed amazing courage and began feeling better almost immediately. He blames his heart problems on genetics, it seems to run in his family. And, what helped was his strict diet as a vegetarian. Fred is back on the radio co-hosting his show with Andy Parks.