Gil Gerard, the actor best known for playing the eponymous space hero in “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” died Tuesday at age 82, his wife announced.
“Early this morning Gil – my soulmate – lost his fight with a rare and viciously aggressive form of cancer. From the moment when we knew something was wrong to his death this morning was only days,” Janet Gerard wrote on Facebook.
“No matter how many years I got to spend with him it would have ever been enough. Hold the ones you have tightly and love them fiercely.”
Janet also posted Gerard’s own remarks in a separate post on his Facebook, adding that the longtime actor died in hospice care.
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“My life has been an amazing journey. The opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve met and the love I have given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying,” he wrote.
“My journey has taken me from Arkansas to New York to Los Angeles, and finally, to my home in North Georgia with my amazing wife, Janet, of 18 years. It’s been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has,” Gerard continued.
“Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.”
“Buck Rogers” was based on Philip Francis Nowlan’s comic strip, which first hit US newspapers in 1929. It follows the adventures of debonair NASA Capt. William “Buck” Rogers,” who is frozen in May 1987 aboard his spacecraft and isn’t discovered until 500 years later, in 2491. He’s revived, only to find out that the world he once knew was destroyed in a nuclear war months after he was frozen.
Gerard took his first turn as Buck Rogers in a 1979 film, which became the pilot for the TV show that began airing on NBC later that year, according to Deadline.
The show also starred Erin Gray as Col. Wilma Deering; Felix Silla as Twiki, a silver robot primarily voiced by legend Mel Blanc, and Wilfrid Hyde-White as Dr. Goodfellow. It ran for 32 episodes over two seasons before it was canceled in April 1981.
Gerard initially balked at taking what would become his most famous role, which was developed after the massive success of “Star Wars.”
“I turned it down three times … I saw what it did to Adam West’s career with ‘Batman, and this was another cartoon character. Bop, bip bam and all this bulls—t. I didn’t want to do this campy stuff,” he said in a 2018 interview at Dragon Con.
But he relented once he read the script at his agent’s behest.
“Yeah, I like the character. He’s got a good sense of humor, it’s kinda fun, not campy. We did the movie, it was hugely successful,” he said.
Gerard was born Jan. 23, 1943, in Little Rock, Ark., the youngest of knife salesman Frank and teacher Gladys’ three sons. He moved to New York in 1969 to study under Philip Burton — the mentor and adoptive father of Shakespearean icon Richard Burton — at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
His first movie was 1971’s “Some of My Best Friends Are…”, which starred Fannie Flagg, “Golden Girls’” Rue McClanahan and Warhol superstar Candy Darling. He later played the love interest of Lee Grant in the Oscar-nominated air disaster flick “Airport ’77.”
Aside from a slew of commercials, Gerard made his first foray on the small screen as Dr. Alan Steward on NBC’s soap opera “The Doctors,” appearing in more than 160 episodes from 1973 to 1976. His other notable TV roles include Sgt. Jake Rizzo on “Sidekicks” with Ernie Reyes Jr. as his grandson from 1986 to 1987.
In 1997, he returned to the daytime drama world for a guest appearance on “Days of Our Lives.”
One of his final film roles was in 2016’s “The Nice Guys,” starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.
In addition to his wife, Janet, Gerard is survived by his son, Gib, whom he shared with ex-wife, model/actress Connie Sellecca.
