Gil Gerard, the Arkansas actor best known for his role as the wacky hero on the NBC series from 1979 to 1981. Buck Rogers in the 25th centurydied Tuesday. He was 82 years old.
Gerard lived in Georgia and died after a battle with “a rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer,” his wife, Janet, announced in a Facebook post.
In the 1977 films, Gerard had played Lee Grant’s romantic interest in Airport ’77 and had played the role of a moonshiner in the comedy set in Appalachia Hooch when he was approached to star in Buck Rogers in the 25th centuryco-produced by Glen A. Larson at Universal Television.
Based on the most famous popular comic book character from a 1939 film series starring Olympic swimming champion Buster Crabbe, the light-hearted sci-fi series began with a 1979 film developed following the huge success of Star Wars.
At first, the dashing Gérard wasn’t interested in the role. “I saw what it did to Adam West’s career with Batmanand it was another cartoon character. I didn’t want to do this country stuff,” he said in a 2018 interview.
However, he was eventually persuaded to sign, and the Buck Rogers The film proved to be a success, finishing among the top 25 domestic grossers that year. The film was later retooled to serve as the series’ two-hour opening episode.
Buck Rogers ran for two seasons and a total of 32 episodes until April 1981 before being canceled.
Gérard went on to headline a series of TV movies, including the highly rated 1982 film Help wanted: Malealso starring Suzanne Pleshette, and played a single cop who teaches martial arts to a youth (Ernie Reyes Jr.) in the 1986-87 ABC series. Companions.
Gil Gerard starred with Ernie Reyes Jr. in the 1986-87 ABC series “Sidekicks.”
Walt Disney Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection
The youngest of three boys, Gilbert Cyril Gerard was born on January 23, 1943 in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father, Frank, was a knife salesman and his mother, Gladys, a teacher.
After graduating from Little Rock Catholic High and spending a few years at Arkansas State Teacher College (now the University of Central Arkansas), he moved to New York in 1969 and studied acting with Philip Burton at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
He drove a taxi at night to make ends meet, and one of his passengers allowed him to audition for a role in Arthur Hiller’s film. love storythen filming in New York. He was hired as an extra, left a small role in the editing room and worked for about 10 weeks on the film.
Gerard spent the next few years appearing in commercials – more than 400 by his count – and played prisoner of war turned doctor Alan Stewart on the NBC soap opera. The doctors from 1973 to 1976. He also appeared with Cliff Robertson in Frank Perry’s Man on a swing (1974).
He invented the story and produced Hooch for his own production company, Prudhomme Productions. The film, he admitted, was a rip-off of Smokey and the Bandit.
After playing a carpenter who falls in love with Caroline Ingalls (Karen Grassle) in a 1977 episode of the NBC series Little House on the PrairieMichael Landon hired him to star in Rocka series about an innocent man seeking to rebuild his life after a decade in prison. A pilot was made, but the show was not picked up.
As Captain William Anthony “Buck” Rogers, a NASA/US Air Force pilot who is accidentally frozen in his spaceship in 1987 and then discovered in 2491 after a nuclear war, Gerard starred alongside Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering and Felix Silla as the robot Twiki (voiced by Mel Blanc).
“I thought the character had a sense of reality,” he said in 2017. “I really liked the sense of humor and his humanity. I thought it was pretty cool. He wasn’t a stiff guy. He was a guy who could solve problems on his feet, and he wasn’t a superhero.”
In 1983, Gérard produced the Broadway musical The Amen cornerbased on the play by James Baldwin and starring Rhetta Hughes.
Gerard also appeared in the 1990 CBS series. EARTH Force; hosted the 1992 reality show Code 3; played Major Dodd in 1997 on the NBC daytime soap opera The days of our lives; and appeared in the Ryan Gosling-Russell Crowe comedy The nice guys (2016).
He was also the subject of the 2007 Discovery Health Channel documentary. Action hero makeoverupon which he decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery after his weight reached 350 pounds. In a 1990 article in Peoplehe estimated that he lost $1 million in work because of overeating.
Gerard, who had a long friendship with former President Bill Clinton, was married four times, including once to actress Connie Sellecca (Hotel) from 1979 until their divorce in 1987. Besides Janet, his wife of 18 years, survivors include his son with Sellecca, Gib.
In a post on his Facebook account, Gerard wrote: “My life has been an incredible journey. The opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve met, and the love I’ve given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying. …Don’t waste your time on something that doesn’t excite you or bring you love. See you somewhere in the cosmos.”
