After a weekend filled with violence, including two ugly mass shootings and the brutal slayings of Rob Reiner and his wife in their home, I was deliberately throwing myself into an unrelated column I’d been working on for a few days prior, when my sister texted me with news that actor Gil Gerard, star of TV’s “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (1979-1981), passed away at age 82 after a battle with cancer. I sunk in my chair.

As a kid in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I watched “Buck Rogers” religiously. While the series’ stories were largely nonsense, there was a feeling of lightness that pervaded the show. It looked superficially similar to producer Glen Larson’s “Battlestar Galactica” (1978-1980) but it was much more fun. Much of that was due to the tone set by series’ star Gerard, an actor who originally studied to be a chemist, before deciding that acting was his true passion. To that end, he drove cabs by day and studied acting by night until finding success.

Prior to “Buck Rogers,” Gerard had appeared on a few popular TV shows, including “Baretta,” “Little House on the Prairie,” and “Hawaii 5-0.” He also had parts in the gay-themed comedy “Some of My Best Friends Are…” and the disaster-movie sequel “Airport ’77” before landing the role that would, for better or worse, define his career. With “Buck Rogers,” Gerard clearly understood the assignment, giving Buck a bit more depth and shading than the admittedly silly ‘Burt Reynolds in Space’ concept seemed to warrant.

The “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” pilot movie, aka “Awakening,” was directed by Daniel Haller, and was cowritten by producers Glen Larson (“The Fall Guy”) and Leslie Stevens (“The Outer Limits”). Though originally produced for TV, Universal Studios made the decision to release the pilot movie theatrically in the summer of 1979 to recoup some of its production costs, and that’s where I first saw “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”; on the silver screen in a rinky-dink theater during a bargain matinee. That September, the movie came to TV with some tailoring, which included snipping bits of risqué dialogue (“I’m freezing my ball bearings off!”) and adding a couple scenes to better bridge it with the weekly series that followed.

That first season of the series was camp sci-fi gold. Each week, we’d see Buck, his quasi-romantic partner Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) and their ‘ambu-quad’ sidekick Twiki (Felix Silla) going out on various assignments to stop interstellar bad guys on behalf of the Earth Directorate, under the administration of kindly Dr. Huer (Tim O’Connor). Some of the better episodes included those with the returning Queen of Camp, Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley), heiress to the Draconian Empire, who could wear bejeweled bikinis and chew scenery with the best of ’em. The series’ first two-part episode included a cameo from original “Buck Rogers” serial star Buster Crabbe, who played Col. Gordon; a reference to “Flash Gordon,” whom Crabbe also played in earlier serials. NBC ate up the publicity, and released many photos to the press of Crabbe on set, mixing it up with younger costars Gerard and Gray. Sadly, the series fell in the ratings during its first season.

“Buck Rogers” did return in 1981, but under new producer John Mantley (“Gunsmoke”), who pulled much of the fun from the series and retooled it into a threadbare Star Trek-clone, with Buck, Wilma and Twiki now aboard a starship called Searcher, which combed the galaxy looking for the lost tribes of Earth (a plot pulled from Larson’s “Battlestar…”). Fans like myself were not happy with season 2, resenting the loss of Dr. Huer, and the addition of new characters like blustery Admiral Asimov (Jay Garner) and doddering Dr. Goodfellow (Wilfrid Hyde White). Erin Gray’s Wilma was reduced from a take-charge colonel to a space-age flight attendant. The only highlight was the addition of Thom Christopher as the stoic bird-man character, “Hawk.” The second season was mercifully cancelled after only ten episodes.

After “Buck Rogers,” Gerard appeared in a dramatic TV-movie called “Hear No Evil” (1982), playing a cop who loses his hearing in the line of duty. The role allowed Gerard to use his fluency in American Sign Language, which he learned growing up with his hearing-impaired father. He also used ASL for an episode of “Buck Rogers” (“Return of the Fighting 69th”). Following a painful divorce from actress Connie Sellecca (“Greatest American Hero”), Gerard admitted that he lapsed into substance abuse and weight gain before turning his life around. Gerard’s struggles with weight would lead to the actor getting gastric bypass surgery in 2005. The procedure was chronicled for the Discovery channel, and it doubtless added years to his life. In 2007, Gerard would appear as an admiral in the Star Trek: Phase II fan film, “Kitumba,” and would reunite with costar Erin Gray in a proof-of-concept trailer for an unproduced “Buck Rogers” fan film, where he and Gray played Buck’s parents in a World War 1 period setting that would pay homage the 1929 comic strips.

San Diego Comic Con 2009

I had the genuine pleasure of meeting the quick-witted Gerard at San Diego Comic Con 2009, where I was attending an 80th anniversary panel for the original “Buck Rogers” comic strips by Philip Francis Nowlan, and the 30th anniversary of the TV series. The panel was colorful and hilarious, with Gerard reuniting with costar and friend Erin Gray. Gerard also got a chance to inspect a newly-created ray gun toy and jetpack-clad action figure, both of which were based based on Nowlan’s original design concepts from the late 1920s.

After relishing their favorite behind-the-scenes moments from season 1 of “Buck Rogers,” Gerard and Gray also discussed their issues with the producers of its second season, with Gray expressing her disappointment over the unceremonious firing of her friend and costar, the late Tim O’Connor (“Dr. Huer”). On the whole, however, the panel was hilarious. The chemistry between Gerard and Gray was like a pair of teasing siblings, with Gray kiddingly admonishing Gerard for his endless stream of risqué one-liners. Gerard would tease Gray about her ‘Dairy Queen in space’ outfits for the second season. Later, I found the two of them together at Gray’s autographing booth. I thanked them both for the enjoyable panel, to which Gerard quipped “She gives good panel.” Gray chuckled, and gave Gerard another deserved swat on the arm…

After autographing my DVD set of the series, Gerard and Gray graciously posed for a photograph together (below). Over the last decade or so, I’ve since seen my photo appear all over Reddit, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram, and I’d just like to say that it’s my sincere pleasure to share that pic with as many people as possible. It captured a moment I’ll cherish forever, particularly in the wake of Gil Gerard’s passing.

Thanks, Gil, for the childhood memories and the in-person laughs.

Gil Gerard, January 23rd 1943-December 16th 2025