Buck Rogers' star Gil Gerard dies at 82

"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 Tuesday in hospice as a result of a rare, aggressive form of cancer, said his manager, Tina Presley Borek. 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. It was Rogers' second turn on TV after a show in the 1950s, a radio series and a 1939 film serial. The story was based on Philip Francis Nowlan's serialized 1928 pulp novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. Nowlan's character was named Anthony Rogers. The name was changed when the story began running in newspapers as a comic strip."

"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 its threats, including aliens, space pilots and the evil Draconians. He had helpers: The robot sidekick Twiki and a beautiful space pilot Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray."

Gil Gerard died at 82 in hospice from a rare, aggressive cancer, according to his manager Tina Presley Borek. His wife, Janet Gerard, shared a posthumous message he left for fans urging people not to waste time on anything that doesn't thrill them or bring love. Gerard starred as William Buck Rogers on NBC's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century from 1979 to 1981 and appeared in a theatrical film based on the series. The Buck Rogers character originated in Philip Francis Nowlan's 1928 pulp novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. Gerard worked in TV commercials, appeared in the TV movie Hear No Evil (1982), the series Sidekicks (1986), and hosted the reality series Code 3 in 1992. He was a native of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Read at www.mercurynews.com