Say Goodbye to 'Buck Rogers'

Gil Gerard, who played television's hunky sci-fi hero William "Buck" Rogers soon after the Star Wars franchise took hold in the late 1970s, has died. He was 82. Gerard died on Tuesday in hospice as a result of a rare, aggressive form of cancer, said his manager, Tina Presley Borek, per the AP. His wife, Janet Gerard, posted a posthumous Facebook message he left behind for fans that read, in part: "Don't waste your time on anything that doesn't thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos." Gerard starred in NBC's campy Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran for two seasons, from 1979 to 1981. A theatrical film based on the series also delighted youngsters and their parents alike.

The story was based on Philip Francis Nowlan's serialized 1928 pulp novella Armageddon 2419 AD. As the TV story goes, Rogers was a 20th-century NASA pilot who was placed in frozen animation when his ship was hit by a meteor storm. He pops awake 500 years later in the year 2491. He gazes upon a futuristic, domed Earth with all of its threats, including aliens, space pilots, and the evil Draconians. Rogers had helpers, including a robot sidekick named Twiki and a beautiful space pilot, Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gerard worked steadily in TV commercials. 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 and the short-lived Sidekicks in 1986. In 1992, he hosted the reality series Code 3, following firefighters responding to emergency calls around the US. There were many guest appearances in the 1990s, including on Days of Our Lives. Gerard and Gray were together again in 2007 for the TV film Nuclear Hurricane. They also returned to the Buck Rogers universe as Rogers' parents in the pilot episode of James Cawley's Buck Rogers Begins internet video series in 2009.

Gerard spoke openly about addictions to drugs, alcohol, and compulsive overeating. He was the subject of a one-hour documentary, Action Hero Makeover, in 2007 after his weight ballooned to 350 pounds. Gerard was married and divorced four times before Janet. He had a son, actor Gilbert Vincent Gerard, with model and actor Connie Sellecca. Their divorce included a bitter custody battle for "Gib," who was born in 1981. Sellecca was granted main custody. "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," Gerard wrote in the post put on Facebook after his death. "It's been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has."