
Gil Gerard
Born
January 23, 1943 (82 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Gilbert C. Gerard is an American actor, most notable 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 of starting he became regional manager of a large chemical company headed by governor Winthrop Rockefeller. Gerard's employers said they would appoint him as the firm's 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 a lively 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.
Known For

Space Captain and Callista
Lance
2019

The Nice Guys
Bergen Paulsen
2016
Blood Fare
Professor Meade
2012

The Lost Valentine
Neil Thomas Jr
2011

Ghost Town
Preacher McCready
2009

Dire Wolf
Col. Hendry
2009

Reptisaurus
General Morgenstern
2009

The Bone Eater
Big Jim Burns
2008

Nuclear Hurricane
Bob
2007

Air Rage
Victor Quinn
2001

The Stepdaughter
Jesse Conner
2000

Fugitive Mind
Karl Gardner
1999

Mom, Can I Keep Her?
Reinhart
1998

Pacific Blue
Raymond Annandale · (1 episode)
1996

Brotherly Love
Big Mike · (1 episode)
1995

Soldier's Fortune
Robert E. Lee Jones
1991

Commando Earth Force
Dr. John Harding
1990

E.A.R.T.H. Force
Dr. John Harding · (6 episodes)
1990

Final Notice
Harry Stoner
1989

Nightingales
Dr. Paul Petrillo · (13 episodes)
1989

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self
1987
George Lucas' Star Tours
1986

Sidekicks
(23 episodes)
1986

Fury to Freedom
Officer
1985

International Airport
David Montgomery
1985

Stormin' Home
Bobby Atkins
1985

For Love or Money
Mike
1984

Hear No Evil
Dragon
1982

Not Just Another Affair
Bob Gifford
1982

Help Wanted: Male
Johnny Gillis
1982

Monsters, Madmen & Machines: 80 Years of Science Fiction
Host
1980

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers · (37 episodes)
1979

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Capt. William " Buck " Rogers
1979

Killing Stone
Gil Stone
1978

Hooch
Eddie Joe
1977

Ransom for Alice!
Clint Kirby
1977

Airport '77
Frank Powers
1977

Battle of the Network Stars
(2 episodes)
1976

Baretta
(1 episode)
1975

Little House on the Prairie
(1 episode)
1974

Man on a Swing
Donald Forbes
1974

Some of My Best Friends Are...
Michel Mireaux
1971

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Planet of the Slave Girls
Buck Rogers

Hawaii Five-O
Marty Cobb · (1 episode)
1968

Miss USA
Judge · (1 episode)
1963

Code 3
(4 episodes)
1957