Erin Gray

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For the professional basketball player with a similar-sounding name, see Aaron Gray.

Erin Gray
Gray at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 17, 2009.
Born	January 7, 1950 (1950-01-07) (age 59) Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Occupation	Film, television actress
Spouse(s)	Ken Schwartz (1968-1990) Richard Hissong (1991-present)

Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Summers in the situation comedy Silver Spoons and as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Early life

Gray was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Diane and Daniel Gray.^[1] At the age of eight, her parents separated, and she moved to California with her mother where she attended Redwood High School, in Larkspur, and later attended and graduated from Pacific Palisades High School. In 1965, at the age of 15, Gray had a chance meeting with Nina Blanchard, head of one of Hollywood's top modeling agencies and became convinced to pursue a career in modeling.

Career

Within a few years Gray was considered one of the top models in New York City. During this period, she worked as spokeswoman for several high profile and prestigious accounts including L'Oréal, Max Factor and Bloomingdale's.^[2] While living in New York she began to develop an interest in acting; and, so her family moved with her to Hollywood.

Gray's first appearance on television was in 1967 as a dancer in the variety series, Malibu U. After moving to Hollywood, she soon had her first starring role on the miniseries Evening In Byzantium, in 1978. Following good notices, in 1978 Gray was put on a seven year contract at Universal Studios, which led directly to her taking the role of Colonel Wilma Deering, in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - at first for a theatrically released movie, then for a recurring TV series.

Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Gray's trim, shapely figure, augmented by a tight one piece jumpsuit, was popular with the show's predominantly young male audience. Gray commented that she was aware of the sexiness of her uniform which was so tight that she had to be sewn into it. Some years after the show ended a male fan told her that the sight of her in her uniform helped him through puberty.

Her character was also high profile within the show, second only to Gil Gerard in the lead role, thus representing one of the early examples of a strong female character in a science fiction setting. Because of this Gray was seen as an important role model for female viewers. She once told an interviewer:

^[3]

Shortly after "Buck Rogers", Gray appeared in the first season Magnum, P.I. episode, "J. 'Digger' Doyle", in which she played security expert, "Joy 'Digger' Doyle", of the episode title. The role was planned to become recurring, even possibly a spin-off series, but it did not come about, and it was the character's only appearance in the series. She also went on to play "Kate Summers" in the 1982–1987 television series, Silver Spoons. When that show ended, she took regular film and TV work; In 1993, she had a featured role in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the ninth entry in the Friday the 13th series. Most recently in 2005 she appeared in the film, Siren. She is also active as a casting agent ^[4] through her agency, "Heroes for Hire"^[5], which specializes in booking sci-fi and fantasy stars for appearances.

Personal life

Besides her acting work, Gray is also active in teaching Tai Chi,[4][5] and in the late 1990s wrote a book entitled Act Right which contains advice for novice television and movie actors; a revised edition (ISBN 1-58436-000-3) was published in 2001.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erin Gray

External links

• Erin Gray Official Web Presence
• Erin Gray at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Erin Gray on the podcast The Future And You

Erin Gray