The Only Major Actors Still Alive From Buck Rogers In The 25th Century

Pulp-influenced, space-faring comic book heroes from Flash Gordon to Star-Lord can tip their hat to Buck Rogers, who debuted on the funny pages in 1929 and paved the way for the medium's future sci-fi protagonists. Though Legendary and Skydance have been developing their dueling "Buck Rogers" projects in recent years, the character's pop culture prevalence isn't quite what it used to be. Back in the day, however, Rogers received more than his share of attention. The character soon leaped from the page to a long-running radio series, a 1939 movie starring Buster Crabbe – who, funnily enough, was also the go-to Flash Gordon actor of the era — and a short-lived 1950 TV show.

However, if you were to name a definitive live-action take on Buck Rogers, it's hard to beat "Battlestar Galactica" creator Glen A. Larson's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." The show got its start in 1979 with a frankly sub-par theatrical movie that was actually a repurposed pilot episode, and ran only for two seasons that were radically different from each other. Nevertheless, it did a good job capturing the comic's unique pulpy charm, and has more than earned its place in the hearts of people who love the era's science fiction. Let's find out which of this classic show's actors are still with us, and what they've been up to since "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" ended in 1981.

"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is one of the many canceled sci-fi shows that would deserve a second chance, and much of it has to do with the affable Mr. Rogers himself. Gil Gerard plays the time-displaced 1987 NASA pilot — full name Captain William "Buck" Rogers – to perfection. Behind the scenes, however, he deeply disliked the show's tone, and grew especially weary when the show abruptly changed into a pretty obvious "Star Trek" expy after season 1. In an interview he gave Starlog Magazine ahead of the sophomore season, he happily aired his grievances about the series' writing and direction, and told stories about the way he challenged the production:

"My philosophy was always: No one's going to remember who produced this show, who wrote it, who directed it, but they're sure going to remember I was out there, and you're not going to leave me out there in front of 20 million people with this junk! I told this to the producers and the writers, because that's the way I felt about it. I felt that it was my responsibility to at least try to see that the audience got a fair shake." 

Despite his concerns about the show's quality and his association with it, Buck Rogers remains Gerard's most recognizable role. After the show's cancellation, her appeared in a series of comparatively low-profile TV movies before scoring a new starring role in the 1986-1987 family crime drama series "Sidekicks." Since then, he's been largely content to work in smaller recurring daytime drama roles and, increasingly, genre B-movies like "Dinowolf" and "Reptisaurus" (both 2009). You can also spot him in Shane Black's 2016 neo-noir "The Nice Guys," in which he appears as Detroit Auto Manufacturers rep Bergen Paulsen.

Erin Gray's Colonel Wilma Deering shares similarities with the era's trailblazing science fiction women like Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Nyota Uhura from "Star Trek" and Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia Organa from "Star Wars." Deering is a capable, no-nonsense officer who's so integral to the show that she and Rogers are the only human characters who carry over to the drastically changed season 2. In a 2012 interview with Wired, Gray explained that her unique chemistry with Gil Gerard originated from her audition, which she was asked to attend after an exhausting filming day without knowing anything about the role:

"I came in kind of sullen and all the other female actresses came in bright-eyed and bushy tailed [...] I was thinking, 'Please let's get this over with, I'd like to go home and go to bed. Thank you very much.' Of course Gil was challenged [...] If you meet Gil you'll find he's quite charming and funny, and he had this sullen woman who he kept trying to make smile. And the more he worked, the more sullen I got and the more in his face I became [...] It ended up being the perfect dynamic for the test, and for the character. 

After the show ended, Gray kept busy. After some minor TV movies and guest star roles in shows like "The Fall Guy" (1982) and two episodes of "Fantasy Island," she played Kate Summers in the 1982 sitcom "Silver Spoons" throughout its five-season run. After the show ended in 1987, she continued her prolific guest star and supporting actor work. In the mid-1990s, she appeared in multiple recurring roles — notably Chief Monica Johnson on the noted lifeguard drama "Baywatch," Nicole Devlin on the ABC daytime drama "Port Charles," and Karen Archer on the NBC procedural "Profiler."

Eric Server voices the computer intellect Dr. Theopolis in the first season of the series, taking over from the pilot movie's Howard F. Flynn. The verbose "Theo" is physically an immobile, round device, but uses Twiki the robot (Felix Silla and Patty Maloney, with Mel Blanc and Bob Elyea providing the voice) to move around. 

Twiki ended up outlasting his master, and followed Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering to the exploration-themed season 2 while Dr. Theopolis was quietly written out of the show and Server went on to other things. In 1981, the actor appeared in the flesh in the trucker-and-chimp adventure show "B.J. and the Bear," joining the series in season 3 as Lt. Jim Steiger, a major character, after having played two other roles in previous seasons. This would be his biggest role in terms of screen time, but that doesn't mean Server has struggled for work. On the contrary, he's a hard-working journeyman who can be spotted in a great many high-profile 1980s and 1990s shows, including "Hill Street Blues," "Knight Rider," "The A-Team," "Murder, She Wrote," T.J. Hooker," and "Matlock." His most recent role is from 2014, when he played "Frightened Man" in the Erwin Brothers comedy "Moms' Night Out."

Revealing though her outfits may be, Pamela Hensley's Princess Ardala is a powerful villain who's out to conquer Earth and, while she's at it, marry Buck Rogers to secure her claim for the Draconian Empire's throne. Hensley only appears in the pilot movie and four episodes of season 1, but Ardala is still quite possibly the show's most memorable antagonist.

Like many other "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" actors, Hensley was already very much on the map when she appeared on the series, having appeared in projects ranging from the dystopian sci-fi film "Rollerball" to the legendary action drama "The Six Million Dollar Man." She also had previous experience from successful shows, as she'd played a major role as Janet Blake in the Emmy-winning medical drama "Marcus Welby, M.D." 

Immediately after "Buck Rogers," Hensley joined another iconic franchise when she played Agent 36 in the "Get Smart" follow-up film "The Nude Bomb" (1980). In 1982, she went on to experience more success as C.J. Parsons, one of the main characters in the three-season crime drama "Matt Houston." The show, which ended in 1985, was Hensley's final acting gig. In 1982, she married Aaron Spelling's producing partner E. Duke Vincent, and the two stayed together until Vincent's death in February 2024.

Likely the most recognizable name on this list as far as modern audiences are concerned, Dennis Haysbert wasn't a particularly massive presence on "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." He played various minor characters over the course of the show's two seasons, netting no less than five different character credits in five separate episodes. However, Haysbert would soon move on to bigger things.

After building a robust CV of guest appearances and solid recurring character roles, the actor started getting more and more prominent roles, such as Pedro Cerrano in the 1989 baseball comedy "Major League" and its sequels, and Don Breedan in Michael Mann's "Heat" (1995). His true breakthrough came in 2001, when he played David Palmer in the Kiefer Sutherland drama "24." Haysbert's capable politician, who eventually becomes the U.S. President, is one of the most commanding characters in the show's first four seasons, and the actor was able to translate his increased visibility to further major roles — such as Jonas Blane, the main character of the CBS Delta Force drama "The Unit" (2006-2009).

Haysberd remains in high demand to this day, both as an on-screen performer and a voice actor. As to just how much gravitas he continues to carry ... well, let's just say that when the folks behind the supernatural drama "Lucifer" had to cast God himself in 2020, they knew exactly who to call.

Like Dennis Haysbert, Alex Hyde-White is an actor whose post-"Buck Rogers" career far surpasses his time with the show. Also like Haysbert, he specialized in playing various minor ensigns and tech guys on the show, appearing in four episodes of season 2. His father Wilfrid Hyde-White was a part of the main cast, playing Dr. Goodfellow.

After the show ended, Hyde-White spent the 1980s following a young screen actor's typical career path, building a résumé of smaller roles while on the hunt for bigger breaks. In 1986, he starred in the time travel adventure "Biggles" as Jim Ferguson, a contemporary everyman who can temporally switch places with World War I-era fighter ace James Bigglesworth (Neil Dickson). Another big showcase arrived in 1989, when Hyde-White played Indiana Jones' father — namely, the younger version of Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) — in the flashback scenes of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Roles in major success stories like "Pretty Woman" and smaller fare followed. In 1994, Hyde-White got to be part of a truly unique superhero film — Roger Corman's deliberately disastrous and unreleased "The Fantastic Four" movie, in which he plays none other than the elastic Reed Richards himself. While the convoluted circumstances behind the movie understandably prevented it from setting the world ablaze, it didn't exactly hurt Hyde-White's career. He's gone on to appear in major projects like Steven Spielberg's 2002 con man film "Catch Me If You Can" and Jordan Peele's 2022 horror film "Nope." He's also amassed an impressive number of guest roles in shows like "Bones," "NCIS," "Mentalist," "Dexter," "Shameless," and "This Is Us."