Gerard died Tuesday morning in hospice with his wife by his side after a battle with an “aggressive form of cancer,” according to a social media announcement by his wife, Janet Gerard. He was 82.
“From the moment when we knew something was wrong to his death this morning was only days,” she wrote in part. “No matter how many years I got to spend with him, it would have never been enough. Hold the ones you have tightly and love them fiercely.”
Later on Tuesday, Gerard’s wife posted a message from the actor to his personal Facebook page, which he had written to be shared upon his death.
“My life has been an amazing journey. The opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve met, and the love I have given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying,” Gerard wrote, per Deadline.
“Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos,” he concluded.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ran for two seasons on NBC. It aimed to capitalize on the late ’70s Star Wars craze. The show leaned more on camp and humor. Of course, this was partially thanks in part to Twiki, the wisecracking robot voiced by legendary Bugs Bunny voice actor Mel Blanc.
Meanwhile, joining Rogers on his adventures by Col. Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) in her spandex jumpsuit and the enigmatic, feathered alien Hawk (Thom Christopher, who passed away in December of 2024).
According to IMDb, before his breakout role as Buck Rogers, Gerard appeared as Dr. Alan Stewart in over 300 episodes of NBC’s The Doctors.
After his role as Buck Rogers, Gerard worked steadily in television and independent films. He starred as Dr. John Harding in CBS’s short-lived E.A.R.T.H. Force (1990) and appeared in a six-episode arc on Days of Our Lives in 1997.
More recently, he played Bergen Paulsen alongside Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys, a film written and directed by ShaneBlack, creator of the Lethal Weapon series.