Gil Gerard
Date of birth: 1943-01-23
Place of birth: Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Gilbert C. Gerard, Gilbert Cyril Gerard
Biography
Gilbert C. Gerard (January 23, 1943 – December 16, 2025) was an American actor, known for his role as Captain William "Buck" Rogers in the 1979–81 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Gerard was employed as an industrial chemist, and within a few years he became regional manager of the chemical company headed by governor Winthrop Rockefeller. Gerard's employers said they would appoint him as vice president if he undertook a master's degree, so he resigned rather than explain that he did not have a bachelor's degree. He then went to New York City where he studied drama by day and drove a taxicab at night. Gerard picked up a fare who showed an interest in the problems of unknown, unemployed actors. 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" role, but his role was not included in the finished film. During the next few years, he did most of his acting in 400 television commercials, including a stint as spokesman for the Ford Motor Company. After small roles in Some of My Best Friends Are..., and Man on a Swing, Gerard gained a prominent role in the daytime soap opera, The Doctors. Gerard formed his own production company in partnership with a writer-producer, co-authored a screenplay called Hooch and filmed it as a starring vehicle for himself. With Hooch completed, he appeared in Ransom for Alice! and Universal's Airport '77. A guest appearance on Little House on the Prairie impressed producer-star Michael Landon, who cast him in the leading role in the 1978 TV movie 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 and E.A.R.T.H. Force. In 1992, Gerard presented the reality TV series Code 3, and 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 on the Discovery Health Channel, which documented his year-long progress after undergoing life-saving mini-gastric bypass surgery 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 350 pounds (159 kg). Within ten months he lost a total of 145 lb (66 kg). Gerard and his Buck Rogers co-star Erin Gray 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. Gerard guest-starred as Admiral Jack Sheehan in "Kitumba", the January 1, 2014, episode of the fan web series Star Trek: Phase II. In 2015, Gerard voiced Megatronus in Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
Movie Credits
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979-03-02
Capt. William "Buck" Rogers is a jovial space cowboy who is accidentally time-warped from 1987 to 24
Mom, Can I Keep Her?
1998-06-10
Timmy Blair has the usual twelve-year-old's share of problems: his father is too busy at work, his n
Airport '77
1977-03-11
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving passen
Fugitive Mind
1999-09-14
A man finds out that he was brainwashed to kill an important government official.
The Lost Valentine
2011-01-30
A young and cynical female journalist learns love may transcend trials and time as she discovers a s
Some of My Best Friends Are...
1971-10-27
Regulars gather at The Blue Jay, a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, to celebrate Christmas
Blood Fare
2012-08-31
A Civil War ghost story with a modern twist.
George Lucas' Star Tours
1986-12-28
Originally aired in late 1986 during NBC's "Disney Sunday Movie."
Ghost Town
2009-10-24
Reb Halland, who lives in the era of Wild West, has made a deal with the devil to gain immortality a
Fury to Freedom
1985-09-21
Martial arts champion Raul Ries was weaned on anger and fueled by rage – a destructive path that led
Hooch
1977-09-02
Hooch is an inexpensive regional exploitation action-comedy (hicksploitation) about a small county i
Man on a Swing
1974-02-24
When a young schoolteacher is found dead in her car in a parking lot in broad daylight, police chief
Final Notice
1989-11-29
Detective Harry Stoner has only a few clues. A year ago someone mutilated the nude photos found in t
Not Just Another Affair
1982-10-01
A lady marine biologist, determined to save herself until marriage, meets a handsome attorney who is
Commando Earth Force
1990-09-16
Monsters, Madmen & Machines: 80 Years of Science Fiction
1980-10-11
Retrospective on science fiction and fantasy films from early efforts like George Melies' "A Trip to
International Airport
1985-05-25
Manager of a large metropolitan airport tries to deal with the stress of his job, and the various ch
Killing Stone
1978-05-02
Returning from prison after serving ten years on trumped-up charges, a freelance writer tries to unc
Soldier's Fortune
1991-09-04
A rich young girl is kidnapped by masked terrorists. Her mother's ex-husband, a former mercenary, ga
For Love or Money
1984-11-20
A man and a woman participate in a new game show where partners have to choose between love and mone
Stormin' Home
1985-04-05
An aging motor-cross racer, already having lost his wife and daughter to his footlooseness and now a
The Nice Guys
2016-05-15
A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncov
Dire Wolf
2009-09-25
A vicious genetically modified creature that's half human and half dire wolf escapes from a research
The Stepdaughter
2000-10-31
Growing up, Susan Miller survived countless foster homes and years of abuse and neglect with one, bu
Nuclear Hurricane
2007-04-04
Linda is trapped when the nuclear power plant in which she works threatens a meltdown, while her gir
Reptisaurus
2009-06-10
When a group of friends get stranded on a seemingly deserted island, they soon realize that they're
Hear No Evil
1982-11-20
A cop who became deaf as the result of a fight tries to break up a drug ring run by bikers.
Help Wanted: Male
1982-01-16
An unmarried career woman decides she wants a baby and finds a suitable partner, a sportswriter work
Bone Eater
2008-02-15
Ancient Native American legend of the Bone Eater rises up and begins terrorizing the local townspeop
Space Captain and Callista
2019-12-09
A young man with Asperger's Syndrome, under the shadow of his overprotective mother, wants to live i
Air Rage
2001-07-24
A Marine Colonel and his men are sent abroad on hostage rescue mission. When they arrive, they find
Ransom for Alice!
1977-06-02
In 1890s Seattle, a deputy marshal and his female partner set out to bust up a ring that kidnaps tee
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987-05-18
A TV special on the 100th anniversary of the birth of film.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Planet of the Slave Girls
1979-09-27
The majority of Earth's fighter squadron becomes incapacitated after using poisoned food discs. Buck
The Last Electric Knight
1986-02-16
Ernie Reyes Jr plays a child with magical kung fu powers who has to find a new parent once his grand