Gil Gerard

Personal life and death

By the end of the 1980s, Gerard had been married five times and divorced four times. His first marriage, in the 1960s to a secretary in his home state of Arkansas, lasted just eight months. After moving to New York to pursue his acting ambitions, his second marriage to a bank executive was equally troubled though it lasted (on and off) for seven years. Following his move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s, he married model/actress Connie Sellecca in 1979. Their son, Gilbert Vincent Gerard, or "Gib", was born in 1981 but the marriage began to disintegrate following the cancellation of Gerard's show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and his increasing addictions to drugs, alcohol, and overeating. The marriage was formally dissolved in 1987, following a bitter custody battle which gave Sellecca main custody of their son. Gerard married again the same year, to interior designer Bobi Leonard, though the marriage lasted only a year and was then formally dissolved in 1989.

Gerard was frank about his battle with addictions. Although he went through recovery for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol, following his divorce from Sellecca in the mid 1980s, his compulsive eating habits increased and he would find himself devouring unhealthy portions of junk food. By 1988, he weighed and used a self-help treatment for his addiction, though he estimated that his weight problem had cost him work opportunities in the region of a million dollars. By 1990, he weighed .

On December 16, 2025, Gerard's wife, Janet, announced on Facebook that he had died earlier that day following a "rare and viciously aggressive form of cancer". He was 82.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1971 Some of My Best Friends Are... Scott 1974 Man on a Swing Donald Forbes 1977 Airport '77 Frank Powers 1977 Hooch Eddie Joe 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Capt. William "Buck" Rogers 1985 Fury to Freedom Officer 1991 Soldier's Fortune Robert E. Lee Jones Alternative title: Soldiers of Fortune 1996 Looking for Bruce Richard 1998 Mom, Can I Keep Her? Reinhart Direct-to-video 1999 Fugitive Mind Karl Gardner Direct-to-video 2000 The Stepdaughter Jesse Conner Direct-to-video 2001 Air Rage Victor Quinn Direct-to-video 2007 Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! Narrator (voice) Short film 2009 Dire Wolf Col. Hendry Alternative title: Dino Wolf 2012 Blood Fare Professor Meade 2014 Boldly Gone Ben (voice) Short film 2016 The Nice Guys Bergen Paulsen 2016 Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel Harold Harris 2019 Space Captain and Callista Lance Final role

Television Year Title Role Notes 1973–76 The Doctors Dr. Alan Stewart 162 episodes 1976 Baretta Steve Episode - "Dear Tony" 1977 Ransom for Alice! Clint Kirby TV movie 1977 Little House on the Prairie Chris Nelson Episode - "The Handyman" 1977 Hawaii Five-O Marty Cobb Episode - "The Ninth Step" 1978 Killing Stone Gil Stone TV movie 1979–81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Captain William "Buck" Rogers 37 episodes 1982 Help Wanted: Male Johnny Gillis TV movie 1982 Not Just Another Affair Bob Gifford TV movie 1982 Hear No Evil Dragon TV movie 1983 Johnny Blue Johnny Blue TV pilot episode 1984 For Love or Money Mike TV movie 1984 Monsters, Madmen & Machines Host Documentary 1985 Stormin' Home Bobby Atkins TV movie 1985 International Airport David Montgomery TV movie 1986–87 Sidekicks Sergeant Jake Rizzo 23 episodes 1989 Nightingales Dr. Paul Petrillo 5 episodes 1989 Final Notice Harry Stoner TV movie 1990 E.A.R.T.H. Force Dr. John Harding 6 episodes 1992 Fish Police Additional Voices Unknown episodes 1996 Brotherly Love Big Mike Episode - "Big Mike" 1997 The Big Easy Mickey Donelley Episode - "A Perfect Day for Buffalo Fish" 1997 Days of Our Lives Major Dodd 6 episodes 1998 Pacific Blue Raymond Annandale Episode - "Double Lives" 2006 Beyond General Walter North TV movie 2007 Nuclear Hurricane Bob TV movie 2008 Bone Eater Big Jim Burns TV movie 2009 Reptisaurus General Morgenstern TV movie 2009 Ghost Town Preacher McCready TV movie 2011 The Lost Valentine Neil Thomas Robinson Jr. TV movie 2013 Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II Admiral Sheehan Episode - "Kitumba" 2014 Drop Dead Diva George Blund Episode - "Hope and Glory" 2015 Transformers: Robots in Disguise Megatronus (voice) 3 episodes