When actor Gil Gerard was cast in the 1979 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century, the star likely thought that he was going to have quite the career ahead of him!
While Gil is still fondly remembered for his time on that short-lived cult-classic series,
his role on it sadly didn't yield a very impressive career afterward.
Instead, Gil spent his days after Buck Rogers in the 25th Century struggling to free himself
from various addictions, including issues with excessive eating and substance abuse.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how playing the character of Buck Rogers ended Gil Gerard’s
career for good.
Gil Gerard was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 23, 1943.
His mother was an instructor at a local college, while his father was a salesman.
Starting in 1960, Gil began attending a school named Maryknoll Seminary, located in Illinois.
While there, he began acting, portraying the title character in a production of The Music
Man.
After graduating high school, Gil attended college at the University of Central Arkansas.
However, before graduating, the young man decided that he wanted to drop out of school
in hopes of becoming an actor.
After abandoning his college career and deciding to dedicate his life to acting, Gil headed
to New York City.
He paid the bills by driving a taxicab during night hours, while in the daytime he dedicated
his time to studying his craft.
One day, while Gil was picking up and dropping off fares in his taxicab, he picked up a man
who expressed some interest when Gil shared that he was an aspiring actor.
Seeing some potential in the young man, the fare told Gil that he was part of the production
team filming Love Story, which was being shot on location nearby.
The man told Gil that if he showed up to the film's set, he would give him a role as an
extra.
Feeling that it was an excellent opportunity, Gil made sure to show up and accept the chance.
When Gil Gerard arrived on the set of Love Story, which was filming on location in New
York City, he was initially cast as an extra.
However, over the course of the day, he was singled out by another member of the production.
This led to Gil being promoted from an extra on the film to a bit player, though his role
was inevitably cut out of the finished project.
Still, the event had given Gil some crucial experience, and he would go on to slowly rise
through the ranks until eventually taking the role of Buck Rogers in 1979.
After Gil’s experience on the set of Love Story, he continued seeking out acting roles.
The most prominent roles that the actor was getting at the time were in commercials.
During Gil’s early career, he starred in around 400 commercials, with one of his most
notable commercial gigs being performing as a spokesperson for the Ford Motor Company.
Still, Gil had his heart set on dramatic acting, and simply took roles in commercials in order
to get his foot in the door.
In 1971, Gil received a small film role in a production named Some of My Best Friends
Are…
Several years later, he could be seen performing an equally small role in the 1974 thriller
Man on a Swing.
Following these two relatively minor film roles, Gil caught a little bit of a break
when he was cast in a fairly prominent role on a daytime soap opera called The Doctors.
Gil performed on the soap opera for two years.
However, Gil eventually decided that his role wasn't meeting his ambitions.
After his role on The Doctors came to an end, Gil decided that it was time to take his fame
into his own hands and stop leaving it up to the will of other producers.
Teaming up with his friend, Gil started his own production company and filmed a starring
vehicle for himself by the name of Hooch.
Hooch was released in 1977.
After its release, Gil could be seen in a variety of different projects before taking
on the role of Buck Rogers in 1979.
He appeared in the 1977 films Ransom for Alice! and Airport ’77, and also made guest appearances
on the hit shows Hawaii Five-O and Little House on the Prairie.
While performing his small part on Little House on the Prairie, Gil caught the attention
of the show’s star and producer, Michael Landon.
Michael subsequently got Gil his first leading role, which came via the made-for-television
motion picture Killing Stone.
After finishing production on the made-for-television picture Killing Stone, Buck Rogers in the
25th Century was just around the corner!
Sadly, Gil’s role on the seminal science-fiction series would end up signaling the end of his
career, despite the show being a cult hit.
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When Gil Gerard was cast in the title role on the television series Buck Rogers in the
25th Century, the star likely felt like he had gotten his big break!
In many respects, the show did end up being his big break, though a variety of problems
Gil experienced after his time on the series essentially halted his career for good.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ran from 1979 to 1981 and was preceded by a feature-length
pilot that was released in theaters as a standalone film.
Because of this, Gil can technically be said to have starred as the lead in a hit theatrical
motion picture!
After Buck Rogers in the 25th Century came to an end, Gil Gerard’s career didn’t
come to a halt immediately.
Instead, there was a period of a few years over which time the star slowly succumbed
to various addictions, including addictions to both food and drugs.
In addition to these issues, Gil was experiencing some domestic problems around the time that
distracted him from his career.
Still, Gil appeared in a few notable roles after playing Buck Rogers, including playing
parts on the short-lived series Sidekicks and E.A.R.T.H.
Force.
In 1982, Gil got another lead role in a made-for-television film: Hear No Evil.
By the time the 1980s were over, Gil had already gone through four different failed marriages
throughout his lifetime.
Not much is known about Gil's first two wives.
His first wife was said to have been a secretary that Gil met in his home state of Arkansas,
and their marriage only lasted for eight months.
After heading out to New York City, Gil met and married his second wife while attempting
to become an actor.
Gil's second wife was a bank executive, and the two were married for around seven years.
After divorcing his second wife, Gil headed out to California and met and married a model
and actress named Connie Selleca.
The two tied the knot in 1979, the same year that Buck Rogers in the 25th Century premiered.
Gil and Connie had a child, who was born in 1981.
The child was named Gilbert, after his father.
Sadly, the introduction of Gilbert to Gil and Connie's lives didn't make their marriage
any easier than Gil's prior two had been, and his third marriage ended up only lasting
as long as his second had.
After being together for seven years, Gil and Connie divorced in 1987.
The mid-80s represented an incredibly dark time for Gil.
Not only was he not making the progress in his career that he had hoped that he was going
to after performing the role of Buck Rogers, but he had also slowly begun succumbing to
his various addictions.
Gil and Connie’s separation was not amicable, and it resulted in a tumultuous custody dispute
that saw Connie gain custody of their son.
Seeking escape from his current situation, Gil plunged into a fourth marriage the very
same year of his third divorce, this time marrying an interior designer by the name
of Bobi Leonard.
The marriage proved Gil’s second-least successful overall, with it lasting a little bit longer
than his first had but not as long as his second or third.
Gil and Bobi divorced in 1989, coinciding with the former star hitting rock bottom and
weighing 300 pounds.
Throughout the 1980s, Gil had begun consuming massive amounts of alcohol and junk food,
leading to his immense weight gain.
Gil had attempted to escape into these indulgences as a means of dealing with the pain of his
failed career, but he eventually realized that he was only making things worse.
Following his fourth divorce, Gil decided that he needed to get his life back under
control.
He began losing weight and was back to a far more appropriate weight of 220 pounds by 1990.
Following his attempts to get back into shape, Gil was allowed a little bit more work in
the entertainment industry.
In 1992, he hosted a reality series named Code 3 that documented the real-life exploits
of various teams of firefighters attempting to control fires.
The show only lasted for around a year, but it gave Gil a chance to feel like he was getting
back into the swing of things.
He went on to appear in a variety of other television series over the course of the decade.
In recent years, Gil has done his best to keep himself healthy, though he still suffers
from health problems related to his consumption, including type 2 diabetes.
While Gil Gerard is still fondly remembered today for playing Buck Rogers on the hit 1979
series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, he sadly didn’t manage to turn his titular
role on that series into a very successful career.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’s
Gil Gerard weighed 300 pounds only a mere decade after his time on that seminal series,
or did you think that action stars couldn’t gain weight?
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