Geek - Issue 8 2019 - 50

Ps

Parting Shot

Erin
Gray

Wilma Deering finally gets
out of spandex and
gets to be captain.
By Ed Gross
FOR A COUPLE OF GENERATIONS OF FANS,
actress Erin Gray has been and forever will
be Colonel Wilma Deering of the 1979-81
TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
And not only is she fine with that, she's
great with it. If she has one complaint, it's
that, until now, she's been held back from
being made captain.
"I know I was commander of the Earth
Defense, OK?" she says, "but being a
captain has been on my bucket list. I
auditioned for Captain Janeway on Star
Trek: Voyager and didn't get it. All the
times I did Battle of the Network Stars,
the networks would never let women be
captains. I'm like, 'Really? You have to be a
man to be a captain?' But, now, I've finally
gotten to be captain!"
Providing her with that opportunity is
The CW's summer sci-fi series Pandora.
Gray guest stars as - you guessed it! - a
ship captain who finds herself involved in
the unfolding mystery of the series.
"When I read the script," she recalls, "I
remember going, 'Oh, my God, it's a Buck
Rogers script. I haven't read one of these in
a long time.' That's how I felt. Then I'd read
through it and say, 'That kind of reminds
me of that movie ... I wonder if they're

50

ISSUE 08

referencing that movie.' Then I get on the
set in Europe, and I find out that everything
is making a reference to something sci-fi.
I'm realizing I'm working with a bunch of
sci-fi boys - the producers and director
- who are having fun, which is great. So
there's that sense of play, and it was fun to
delve into that."
What's also fun for her is the fact that
she's CEO of her own company, Heroes
for Hire, which is not about going out and
saving the world so much as it is about
booking celebrities for the convention
circuits around town.
She reflects that, after her divorce, she
found herself bankrupt and looking for
direction. "Then," Gray explains, "I was
slowly introduced to the convention world
through BarBara Luna, who called me up
and said, 'Go to this place and show up
with 600 pictures. You're going to sign
them for a lot of fans and you're going to
call me up and say, 'Thank you.'" So I went
to my first convention and there was this
big line around the building. I found the
promoter, introduced myself and asked,
'What is that line for?' He said, 'Oh, that's

for you.' It was a whole new world."
She mentioned the next convention
to her Buck Rogers costar Gil Gerard, who
wanted to get involved and promised her
10% of his take. She tried to refuse, but he
insisted. "He said, 'I'm going to make you
work for it,' and he did. Then Marc Singer
from Beastmaster and V called me up and
said, 'I want to go to the next convention.'
And I went, 'OK. And it's 10%.' Suddenly the
business is off and running." And it hasn't
slowed down since.

Photo by Lesley Bohm Photography
Geek - Issue 8 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geek - Issue 8 2019
