Sure, maybe Luke Skywalker was the more popular interplanetary pilot in 1970s pop culture. But when it came to “gettin’ down” on the dance floor, the Tatooine farmboy had nothing on one Capt. William “Buck” Rogers, as evidenced below:
Campy? You betcha. But the easygoing charm of title star Gil Gerard–who passed away earlier this week at 82–let him appear as at ease in a space disco as behind the helm of a spaceship. It also helped to make his 1979-81 NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century a Gen X favorite.
Born Gilbert Cyril Gerard in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1943, he caught the acting bug while studying at an Illinois Maryknoll seminary and appeared in an all-male staging of The Music Man. Gerard moved to New York City in the late ’60s, attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy by day and driving a cab at night. A fare helped him find work as an extra in the hit 1970 film Love Story, but his scenes didn’t make the final cut.
Undaunted, Gil pursued his dreams and appeared in hundreds of TV commercials in the early ’70s. His big-screen debut came in a landmark gay-themed 1971 drama, Some of My Best Friends Are…. In 1973 he started appearing on the NBC soap opera The Doctors as Dr. Alan Stewart, a role he would play until 1976. Along with turns on such shows as Baretta, Little House on the Prairie, and Hawaii Five-O, Gerard was seen in the telefilms Ransom for Alice and Killing Stone. Movigoers saw him in the 1974 thriller Man on a Swing and Airport ’77, the third entry in the disaster series. He also co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in Hooch, a 1977 indie actioner about backwoods moonshiners versus New York mobsters.
Gil’s career took off for the stars–in more ways than one–when producer Glen Larson cast him as the lead in his revival of the ’30s comic strip-turned-serial Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Now an Air Force/NASA pilot, Rogers is trapped in suspended animation when his Ranger 3 deep space probe is bombarded by “cosmic forces beyond all comprehension.”
Returning to Earth 500 years from the time he left, Buck becomes an unofficial member of the Defense Directorate, protecting the planet from extraterrestrial menaces. Aiding him were Directorate Col. Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), scientific genius Dr. Goodfellow (Wilfred Hyde-White), and Twiki the robot (Felix Silla, with vocals by Mel Blanc). Created to coast on the space trails of Star Wars and Close Encounters, Buck Rogers was a hit with younger viewers who enjoyed its lighthearted mix of action and fun. It only managed a two-season run of 37 episodes, however, before NBC put Buck back in suspended animation.
Following the end of Buck Rogers, Gerard headlined a pair of one-season wonders, the 1985-86 martial arts series Sidekicks and the 1990 eco-themed actioner E.A.R.T.H. Force, and had a recurring role in 1989’s Nightingales, a nighttime soaper about nurses. He also hosted the 1992-92 Fox reality show Code 3. Over the next three decades Gil would turn up in numerous feature films (Fugitive Mind, The Stepdaughter, Air Rage) and made-for-TV titles (International Airport, Bone Eater, The Lost Valentine). One key supporting turn came in writer/director Shane Black’s 2016 action/comedy The Nice Guys, with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.
During these years Gerard struggled with alcohol and drug dependency, as well as an overeating problem that saw him reach 350 pounds. He underwent treatment for his addictions, and his battle with his weight was the focus of a 2007 documentary, Action Hero Makeover. Through these ups and downs the actor was a regular presence at sci-fi and nostalgia conventions across the country and enjoyed interacting with his fans.
Married five times, Gil had a son, actor Gib Gerard, from his 1980s union with actress Connie Sellecca. It was his fifth wife Janet who announced that Gerard, who had been in hospice care for “a rare and viciously aggressive form of cancer,” succumbed to the disease on Dec. 16. In a special Facebook post he composed before his death, the actor/”astronaut” wrote “It’s been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has. Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.”
To read MovieFanFare’s 2019 40th anniversary salute to Gil and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, click here.