Gil Gerard (born January 23, 1943) is an American actor, whose roles include Captain
William "Buck" Rogers in the 1979–81
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
''
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century''.
Early life
Gerard was born January 23, 1943, in
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
, to a college instructor mother and a salesman father.
In 1960, he attended
Maryknoll Seminary in
Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and played the title role in an all-male production of ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
''. He graduated from
Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys, and later attended the
University of Central Arkansas
The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only ...
but dropped out before graduation/
[
]
Career
Gerard traveled to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, where he studied drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
by day and drove a taxicab
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...
at night. Gerard picked up a fare who showed a lively interest in the problems of unknown, unemployed actors. Before he left the cab, he told Gerard to report in a few days to the set of '' Love Story'', which was being filmed on location in New York. When Gerard arrived on the ''Love Story'' set, he was hired as an extra. Later that day, he was singled out for a "bit" part, but he was not included in the finished film.
During the next few years, he did most of his acting in television commercials
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
, almost 400, including a stint as spokesman for the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
. After small roles in the gay-themed film '' Some of My Best Friends Are...'' (1971), and the thriller ''Man on a Swing
''Man on a Swing'' is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Frank Perry and written by David Zelag Goodman. The film stars Cliff Robertson, Joel Grey, Dorothy Tristan, Elizabeth Wilson and George Voskovec and was released on February 27, 1 ...
'' (1974), Gerard gained a prominent role in the daytime soap opera '' The Doctors'' for two years. Gerard formed his own production company in partnership with a writer-producer, co-authored a screenplay called ''Hooch'' (1977) and filmed it as a starring vehicle for himself. With ''Hooch'' completed, he traveled to California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
to co-star with Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career.
Early li ...
in ''Ransom for Alice!'' (1977) and to play Lee Grant
Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's ''Detective Story'', co-starring Kirk Dougl ...
's youthful lover in Universal's ''Airport '77
''Airport '77'' is a 1977 American air disaster film, and the third installment of the ''Airport'' film series. The film stars a number of veteran actors including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, and Brenda Vac ...
'' (1977). He appeared in a 1977 episode of ''Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to:
* ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series
* ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'' ("The Ninth Step") as Marty Cobb, a former cop and recovering alcoholic. A guest appearance in ''Little House on the Prairie
The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the American Midwest (Wisconsin, Kansas, ...
'' impressed producer-star Michael Landon, who cast him in the leading role in the 1978 TV movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''Killing Stone''.
Gerard then landed his best-known role, as Captain William "Buck" Rogers in the TV series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' which ran from 1979-81, with the feature-length pilot episode being released theatrically some months prior to the first broadcast of the series. After this, he was featured in a number of other TV shows and movies, including starring roles in the 1982 TV movie '' Hear No Evil'' as Dragon, the short-lived series '' Sidekicks'' (1986) and ''E.A.R.T.H. Force
''E.A.R.T.H. Force'' is an American action adventure television series starring Gil Gerard. The series aired 3 episodes on CBS from September 16 to September 29, 1990, before being canceled due to low ratings, as part of CBS' programming realignme ...
'' (1990).
In 1992, Gerard hosted the reality TV series ''Code 3'', which followed firefighters from different areas of the US as they respond to emergency calls. The show ran on the Fox TV
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
Network until the following year. For the remainder of the 1990s, Gerard made guest appearances on various TV shows, including '' Fish Police'', '' Brotherly Love'', '' The Big Easy'', '' Days of Our Lives'' and '' Pacific Blue''.
In January 2007, Gerard was the subject of the one-hour documentary ''Action Hero Makeover'', which was written, produced and directed by his then-longtime companion, Adrienne Crow for the Discovery Health Channel
Discovery Health Channel was an American subscription television channel. Launched in July 1998, it was owned by Discovery Communications as a spin-off of Discovery Channel, focusing on health and wellness-oriented programming.
In the beginni ...
. The film documented his year-long progress after undergoing life-saving mini-gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...
in October 2005. According to the program, he had been struggling with his weight for 40 years, losing weight only to gain it back. By the time of the program's production, his weight had risen to over , and he had many life-threatening health problems including a severe problem with type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
. Within five days of the surgery he had lost , within three months he had lost , and within ten months he lost a total of .
Gerard and his ''Buck Rogers'' co-star Erin Gray
Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American model, casting agent, and actress whose roles include Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and Kate Summers-Stratton in the situat ...
reunited in 2007 for the TV film ''Nuclear Hurricane'', and also returned to the ''Buck Rogers'' universe by playing the characters' parents in the pilot episode of James Cawley's ''Buck Rogers Begins'' Internet video series in 2009.[McKinstry, Lohr]
"Buck Rogers returns"
Press Republican, 9 November 2009.
Gerard guest-starred as Admiral Jack Sheehan in "Kitumba", the January 1, 2014, episode of the fan web series ''Star Trek: Phase II
''Star Trek: Phase II'' was the initial working title for what officially became titled ''Star Trek II,'' an unproduced American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as a sequel to (and continuation of) the original ''S ...
''."Star Trek Phase 2: "Kitumba" - Episode 4x08"
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. December 31, 2013.
In 2015, Gerard voiced
Megatronus in ''
Transformers: Robots in Disguise''.
Personal life
![Gil Gerard Mid Ohio Comic Con 10222011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Gil_Gerard_Mid_Ohio_Comic_Con_10222011.jpg)
By the end of the 1980s, Gerard had been married and divorced four times. His first marriage, in the 1960s to a secretary in his home state of Arkansas, lasted just eight months. After moving to New York to pursue his acting ambitions, his second marriage to a bank executive was equally troubled though lasted (on and off) for seven years. Following his move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s, he married model/actress
Connie Sellecca
Connie Sellecca (born Concetta Sellecchia; May 25, 1955) is an American actress, producer, and former model, best known for her roles on the television series '' Flying High'', ''The Greatest American Hero'', and ''Hotel'', for which she was nomi ...
in 1979. Their son, Gilbert Vincent Gerard, or "Gib", was born in 1981. Their seven-year marriage began to disintegrate following the cancellation of Gerard's show ''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and his increasing addictions to drugs, alcohol, and overeating. The marriage was formally dissolved in 1987, following a bitter custody battle which gave Sellecca main custody of their son. Gerard married again the same year, to interior designer Bobi Leonard, though the marriage lasted only a year and was then formally dissolved in 1989.
[
Gerard has been frank about his battle with addictions. Although he went through recovery for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol, following his divorce from Sellecca in the mid 1980s, his compulsive eating habits increased and he would find himself devouring unhealthy portions of ]junk food
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known as ...
. By 1988, he weighed and used a self-help treatment for his addiction, though he estimated that his weight problem had cost him work opportunities in the region of a million dollars. By 1990, he weighed .[
]
Filmography
Film
Television
References
General references
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Inline citations
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Gil
1943 births
American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Little Rock, Arkansas
University of Central Arkansas alumni
Toy collectors