Erin Gray: 76 and Still Stunning!

The show was devised as a fresh outing of a comic book character that was created in the 1920s and served as a key inspiration to George Lucas in creating Star Wars.

In 1979 - with audiences primed for sci-fi content by the thunderous success of the first Star Wars film two years prior - Buck Rogers was revived.

The pilot was released in theaters as a full-length movie and the show then hit the airwaves at NBC, with Gil Gerard playing the title role of a 20th century astronaut who spends half a millennium in suspended animation before returning to consciousness in the 25th century and becoming an adventure hero.

Gray played Colonel Wilma Deering, a no-nonsense military officer who often winds up rescuing Buck Rogers and whose initial frosty leeriness about his abilities eventually softens into a warm rapport with him.

However it was her Spandex uniform, clinging flatteringly to her supermodel physique, that caught the attention of viewers around America, occasionally in ways Gray found less than entirely welcome.

'I've had my own personal stalker. I would get nude drawings of my body with a knife and a message saying: "I'm watching you," and: "I'm going to get you,"' she said.

'When you have a baby, you just feel so vulnerable. We couldn't figure it out because it was happening at the studio,' she told CNN, revealing that she finally discovered the missives were coming from a security guard at her workplace.

'The other one, I would get these 10-page tiny handwritten letters front and back and perfect penmanship, and he would say things like: "Don't tell your husband about our relationship." And you know how I found out who it was? He said: "when you waved at me." I waved to my postman,' Gray remembered.

On the show, she became an idol to women who were considering careers in the military and who later approached her at fan conventions to express their gratitude.

'Some will say: “You’re the reason I joined the Air Force,” or: “You’re the reason I became an astronaut" - and I’ve had women who say that,' she shared in a 2012 interview for the blog Helen's Online Portfolio.

'There’s one woman who is one of the top fighter pilots in Israel and one of the top marksmen in the world and I inspired her. We got to know each other, and then she found out I was a Tai Chi master and now she’s studying Tai Chi herself. So being able to inspire people, that’s the best thing ever.'

Gray, still married to Schwartz and raising a small child with him, developed a tough persona as Wilma Deering that sharply contrasted to her private life.

'It was an interesting lesson, because a lot of people didn’t know that I was dealing with domestic violence issues at home,' she remembered years later.

'There were two parts to my personality; one part of me was extremely strong, but another part of me was very humble to my husband, very, frightened. My not knowing what was going to happen that day.... There was a lot of emotional tension and a lot of mercurial reaction, so I never knew what I was dealing with.'

Her personal turmoil was the backdrop for her mounting TV success, with two seasons of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century immediately followed by a hit sitcom.

The comedy was Silver Spoons, fronted by child star Ricky Schroeder as Ricky, the young son of the immature heir Edward Stratton III, played by Joel Higgins.

Gray featured as Edward's assistant, whose chemistry with him eventually blossoms into a full-blown romantic relationship and then a marriage.

Silver Spoons served as a launchpad for two men who later became major comedy stars - Alfonso Ribeiro and Jason Bateman, then both just starting their careers.

Gray also guested on some of the top shows of the era, including Murder, She Wrote; Magnum PI; The Love Boat; The Fall Guy; Hunter; LA Law and even Baywatch. 

Having gone from modeling to acting, Gray eventually switched careers again and became a talent manager - and also addressed the tumult of her home life.

She left her first husband in 1990 and, at a friend's behest, checked into the battered women's shelter Haven House, for which she later became a spokeswoman.

Gray married her current husband Richard Hissong in 1991 and has continued acting sporadically on shows like Star Trek Continues and Mystery Science Theater 3000 and in movies like the Christian picture Finding Grace.