Gil Gerard Passes On

Gil Gerard, best known for playing the title character on the show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century., died on December 16, 2025, at the age of 82. The cause was cancer.

Gil Gerard was born on January 23, 1943, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys and then attended Arkansas State Teacher College for a time. He dropped out to move to New York City where he studied acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He appeared in several commercials (he estimated over 400) and made his film debut in Some of My Best Friends Are... in 1971. He made his television debut in an episode of the soap opera Another World, before appearing as a regular on the soap opera The Doctors from 1973 to 1976. He appeared in the movies Man on a Swing (1974), Airport '77 (1977), Hooch (1977), and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). Although released as a feature film, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) was actually the pilot for the TV series. On television, he guest starred on the shows Baretta, Little House on the Prairie, Hawaii Five-O, and CHiPs. He starred on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran for only 32 episodes from 1979 to 1981.

In the Eighties, Gil Gerard starred on the short-lived shows Sidekicks, Nightingales, and E.A.R.T.H Force. He guest starred on the shows The Disney Sunday Movie, and appeared in such TV movies as Help: Wanted Male, Hear No Evil, and International Airport. He appeared in the movie Fury to Freedom. In 1983, he appeared on Broadway in Amen Corner, a show he also produced. In the Nineties, he appeared on the soap opera Days of Our Lives and was the host of the show Code 3. He guest starred on the shows Brotherly Love, The Big Easy, and Pacific Blue. He appeared in the films Soldier's Fortune (1991) and Looking for Bruce (1996).

In the Naughts, Gil Gerard appeared in the movies Psycho Billy Cabin Massacre! (2007) and Dire Wolf (2009). He appeared in the TV movies Nuclear Hurricane (2007), Bone Eater (2007), Reptisaurus (2009), and Ghost Town (2009). In the Teens, he provided the voice of Megatronus on the TV cartoon Transformers: Robots in Disguise. He guest starred on the shows Star Trek: The New Voyages and Drop Dead Diva. He appeared in the TV movie The Lost Valentine. He appeared in the movies Blood Fare (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel (2017), and Space Captain and Callista (2019).

Even as a kid I can't say I was a fan of the TV show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, although I really liked Gil Gerard in the role. He brought a sense of humanity to the role that one didn't always see in shows and movies about comic strip heroes at the time. I really wished he had been provided with better scripts. Mr. Gerard was also appealing on other shows, including the Disney Sunday Movie episode "The Last Electric Knight," the TV show Sidekicks, and the Tv show Code 3. And while Gil Gerard was best known for playing the heroic Buck Rogers, he could play other sorts of roles. He starred as a moonshiner in the movie Hooch, which he also produced.

I never got to meet Gil Gerard, but I know plenty of people who have and all of them have said that he was an all-around good guy. No one could be nicer and he was known for the respect and affection he had for his fans, as well as his enthusiasm for life. Indeed, he left a final message for his fans with his wife to be published following his death, which he ended with "Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos." Gil Gerard wasn't simply a well-known actor, but a truly nice guy.