Vale: Richard Hatch
US actor Richard Hatch, best known for Battlestar Galactica, has died.
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US actor Richard Hatch, best known for Battlestar Galactica, has died, aged 71.
He died on Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Hatch was best known for his role as Captain Apollo on the original 1978 series Battlestar Galactica an had a recurring role in the 2003 version playing Tom Zarek. Showrunner Ronald D. Moore said, “Richard Hatch was a good man, a gracious man, and a consummate professional. His passing is a heavy blow to the entire BSG family.”
Hatch’s career was launched with a role on All My Children in 1971. He had appearances in classic 70s and 80s shows including Fantasy Island, CHiPs, Murder She Wrote, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, The Love Boat, MacGyver, Room 222, Kung Fu, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-0 and Baywatch.
In 2011, Hatch appeared in a travelogue show called Who The Frak? and later had the title role in digital series The Silicon Assassin Project. He had a number of projects in various stages of development at the time of his death, according to IMDb.
“I was very shy and very insecure, and acting, actually, was a way for me to overcome my shyness and overcome maybe some of those emotional places where I was repressed and cut off — because I was embarrassed and held everything inside,” Hatch said in 2008. “Acting forces you to get it out, forces you to express those emotions and feelings. I didn’t look at acting as a way to lead me to fame and fortune; I looked at it as a way to overcome some of my life issues. As I went through the acting process and teaching process in classes, it slowly evolved into a profession, and I never expected it to. That was a big surprise to me that I ever winded up on a television screen or a movie screen.”
5 Responses
what a shock! I had such a crush on him when he was on Battlestar Gallatica. Those years have gone by so fast. Richard was constantly trying to get the original show up and running again with him in it.
Pancreatic cancer got my father last year, so I can imagine what he’s been through. It’s such a shame to lose Richard, I grew up wanting to be Apollo and was hoping he’d visit Australia through one of the comiccon type events one day. Oh well, not to be. Rest in peace Richard.
And so Apollo joins the stars. Good in the BSG original, great in the remake.
In 1976, Hatch gained his first major television role as Inspector Dan Robbins on the detective series The Streets of San Francisco, a replacement for Michael Douglas
Yes, i remember him as Doulas’s replacement. I had a huge crush on him.