Gil Gerard, the American actor best known for playing the title role in the science-fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, has died aged 82.
His wife, Janet, announced the death on Tuesday, writing that he had “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. No matter how many years I got to spend with him it would have never been enough. Hold the ones you have tightly and love them fiercely,” she wrote on Facebook.
She also shared on his own page a final statement from the actor himself, which he confirmed in the post he had asked her to share after his death.
“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,” his message, posted to his Facebook page, read.
“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.
“Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.”
Born Gilbert Cyril Gerard on 23 January 1943 in Little Rock, Arkansas, he began his career doing commercials and daytime television, including roles on Another World and The Doctors, and built a steady reputation as a reliable television performer.
Gerard achieved widespread recognition in 1979 when he was cast as Captain William “Buck” Rogers in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which began as a 1979 television movie based on a long-running comic strip character created by Philip Francis Nowlan in 1928, according to Variety.
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The film’s success led Universal to expanding the film into a series later that year, and it went on to air for two seasons until 1981.
Rogers, an astronaut who is frozen for 504 years in space and revived in 2491, turned Gerard into a pop fixture at the height of science fiction’s television boom, after the success of Star Wars.
Beyond Buck Rogers, Gerard continued to work steadily across film and television for decades. His film credits included Airport ’77 and later appearances such as a supporting role in Shane Black’s 2016 crime comedy The Nice Guys. On television, he made guest appearances on popular series including CHiPs, Little House on the Prairie, and Hawaii Five-O.
In later years, Gerard remained closely associated with the science fiction community, frequently attending fan conventions and retrospectives celebrating Buck Rogers and the genre’s television history.