Richard Hatch
Encyclopedia
Richard Hatch is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Captain Apollo
in the original Battlestar Galactica
television series, and also as Tom Zarek
in the remake of Battlestar Galactica
.
Repertory Theater. In the late 1960s, he starred Off Broadway in several plays and musicals and won the Obie Award
for his work in PS Your Cat is Dead in Chicago
.
, a role he played for two years. For some years, he then made guest appearances in primetime series such as Cannon
, Barnaby Jones
, Hawaii Five-O
, and The Waltons
, as well as appearing in several made-for-TV movies such as The Hatfields and The McCoys with Jack Palance
, Addie and the Kings of Hearts with Jason Robards
, Last of the Belles with Susan Sarandon
, and Deadman's Curve in which he portrayed Jan Berry of the musical group Jan and Dean
.
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
(who played Insp. Steve Keller) who had left the series that year. Though the role was only for one season, Hatch won Germany's Bravo Youth Magazine
Award for the role. Following this, he had a recurring role on the series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
, also for one season. By this time, Hatch had become something of a pin-up and regularly appeared in teen-oriented magazines such as Teen Beat
, 16 Magazine
, and Tiger Beat
.
Hatch then gained his first starring role in Glen A. Larson
's sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica (1978), though this too proved to be for only a single season as the series was cancelled in 1979. Hatch was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for the role.
Throughout the 1980s, Hatch made guest appearances on various television series such as Hotel
, Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat
, and Fantasy Island
. In 1984, he appeared in several episodes of the prime time soap opera Dynasty
, which was at the top of the ratings at the time.
In 1990, Hatch returned to daytime soap operas and appeared on Santa Barbara originating the character Steven Slade. He continued to make guest appearances on prime time series such as Jake and the Fatman
and Baywatch
, but roles were becoming few and far between.
Hatch's next prominent role would be as Tom Zarek
in the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica, in which he made semi-regular appearances from 2004 to 2009.
(1981), and Prisoners of the Lost Universe
(1983). An abridged version of the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica was also released in cinemas, initially overseas and then for a limited run in the U.S., as was a sequel film, Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack, which was also made from episodes of the series.
in the hopes of enticing Universal Studios
(the rights holders for the franchise) into producing a new series that would have been a direct continuation of the original 1978 series (ignoring the events of the failed spin-off Galactica 1980
in which Hatch did not appear). Original actors John Colicos
(Baltar), Terry Carter
(Col. Tigh) and Jack Stauffer
(Bojay) appeared in the trailer along with Hatch himself. Hatch also believed that he could persuade Dirk Benedict
to return and play Starbuck.
Although the trailer won acclaim at science-fiction conventions, Universal was not interested in Hatch's vision to revive Battlestar Galactica, and instead opted for a remake rather than the sequel for which Hatch had campaigned. Initially, Hatch (who claimed to have remortgaged his house to make the trailer) was bitterly disappointed by this turn of events and was highly critical of the prospective new series on his web site.
In 2004, he stated to Sci-Fi Pulse that he had felt resentment over the failure of his planned Galactica continuation and was left "exhausted and sick... I had, over the past several years, bonded deeply with the original characters and story... writing the novels and the comic books and really campaigning to bring back the show".
, the new series' writer and producer, when he appeared as a featured guest at Galacticon (the Battlestar Galactica 25th anniversary convention, hosted by Hatch) and answered questions posed by a very hostile audience. http://scifipulse.net/?tag=richard-hatch. Later, in 2004, Hatch was offered and accepted a recurring role in the new Battlestar Galactica
series. He played Tom Zarek
, a terrorist turned politician, who spent twenty years in prison for blowing up a government building; Hatch has said the character was presented to him as a Nelson Mandela
figure, and that he views Zarek as challenging the status quo and working for the common man. Hatch/Zarek spends most of his first episode in heated debate with Captain Apollo (played by Jamie Bamber
), the role that Hatch had played in the original series. He has appeared in several further episodes of the series as a guest star until 2009. After accepting the Zarek role, Hatch stated "it was a very deep and profound struggle for me to let go and realize that I was not the creator of the series and it didn’t belong to me... I’ve finally come to terms with and accepted that."
entitled The Great War of Magellan. He has written a comic book series and a role-playing game in support of this, and is presently working a novel trilogy with Brad Linaweaver
(who co-authored many of Hatch's Battlestar Galactica novels).
Most recently, Hatch has been working on a new reality TV series called Who the Frak?, which he created and appears in as himself. The series is touted as "the world's first social network reality drama".
Hatch can also be heard in numerous television commercials and other voice-overs.
Captain Apollo
Captain Apollo is the name of a fictional character in the Battlestar Galactica franchise. He was first played by Richard Hatch, who would also later appear as the character of Tom Zarek in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series in 2005....
in the original Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
television series, and also as Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
in the remake of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
.
Early career
Hatch began his theatrical career with the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Repertory Theater. In the late 1960s, he starred Off Broadway in several plays and musicals and won the Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for his work in PS Your Cat is Dead in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Television
Hatch began working in television in 1970 when he starred as Philip Brent in the daytime soap opera All My ChildrenAll My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, a role he played for two years. For some years, he then made guest appearances in primetime series such as Cannon
Cannon (TV series)
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, and The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, as well as appearing in several made-for-TV movies such as The Hatfields and The McCoys with Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
, Addie and the Kings of Hearts with Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, Last of the Belles with Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, and Deadman's Curve in which he portrayed Jan Berry of the musical group Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
.
In 1976, Hatch gained his first major television role as Inspector Dan Robbins on the detective series The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
, a replacement for Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
(who played Insp. Steve Keller) who had left the series that year. Though the role was only for one season, Hatch won Germany's Bravo Youth Magazine
Bravo (magazine)
Bravo is the largest teen magazine within the German-language sphere. The first issue was published in 1956, subtitled as "the magazine for film and television" . Marilyn Monroe's portrait graced the first published issue, the never-published dummy issue cover displayed Elvis Presley.-History:The...
Award for the role. Following this, he had a recurring role on the series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is an American soap opera parody that aired in daily syndication from January 1976 to May 1977. The series was produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and starred Louise Lasser...
, also for one season. By this time, Hatch had become something of a pin-up and regularly appeared in teen-oriented magazines such as Teen Beat
Teen Beat
Teen Beat was an American magazine geared towards teenaged readers.First published in August 1976, the magazine was preceded by sister publications 16 Magazine, published in 1956, and Tiger Beat, which was first published in 1965...
, 16 Magazine
16 magazine
16 Magazine was a fan magazine based out of New York City. It was the first magazine marketed to adolescents that focused exclusively on celebrities...
, and Tiger Beat
Tiger Beat
Tiger Beat is an American fan magazine marketed primarily to adolescent girls. It is currently published by Laufer Media, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, which also produces its sister publication, Bop....
.
Hatch then gained his first starring role in Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson
Glen Albert Larson is an American television producer and writer best known as the creator of Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider.-Career:...
's sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica (1978), though this too proved to be for only a single season as the series was cancelled in 1979. Hatch was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for the role.
Throughout the 1980s, Hatch made guest appearances on various television series such as Hotel
Hotel (TV series)
Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty....
, Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
, and Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
. In 1984, he appeared in several episodes of the prime time soap opera Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
, which was at the top of the ratings at the time.
In 1990, Hatch returned to daytime soap operas and appeared on Santa Barbara originating the character Steven Slade. He continued to make guest appearances on prime time series such as Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series...
and Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
, but roles were becoming few and far between.
Hatch's next prominent role would be as Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
in the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica, in which he made semi-regular appearances from 2004 to 2009.
Films
Hatch has made several low-key theatrical film releases, including Best Friends (1975), Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon QueenCharlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen is a 1981 film directed by Clive Donner. It stars Peter Ustinov and Lee Grant.-Plot:Retired detective Charlie Chan is asked for his help by the San Francisco police to solve a new series of murders...
(1981), and Prisoners of the Lost Universe
Prisoners of the Lost Universe
Prisoners of the Lost Universe is a low budget 1983 film set in a parallel universe.Three people are transported to another world when an earthquake occurs just as the scientist is experimenting with his "matter" transmitter...
(1983). An abridged version of the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica was also released in cinemas, initially overseas and then for a limited run in the U.S., as was a sequel film, Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack, which was also made from episodes of the series.
Battlestar Galactica revival attempt
For many years, Hatch attempted to revive Battlestar Galactica. In the 1990s, he began writing novels based on the series, and also wrote, co-directed and executive-produced a trailer called The Second ComingBattlestar Galactica: The Second Coming
Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming is a 1999 science-fiction action film. It was a project to create a pilot film for a proposed new Battlestar Galactica television series that would pick up where the original 1978 series left off...
in the hopes of enticing Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
(the rights holders for the franchise) into producing a new series that would have been a direct continuation of the original 1978 series (ignoring the events of the failed spin-off Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980 is a science fiction television series, and a spin-off from the 1978–1979 series Battlestar Galactica. It was first broadcast on the ABC network in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980.-Development:...
in which Hatch did not appear). Original actors John Colicos
John Colicos
John Colicos was a Greek-Canadian actor. He was a distinguished stage actor in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.-Career:...
(Baltar), Terry Carter
Terry Carter
Terry Carter is an American actor and filmmaker who is known for his roles as "Sgt. Joe Broadhurst", on the seven year hit TV series McCloud and as "Colonel Tigh" on the original Battlestar Galactica.-Early life:...
(Col. Tigh) and Jack Stauffer
Jack Stauffer
Jack Stauffer is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is also a director of theater productions....
(Bojay) appeared in the trailer along with Hatch himself. Hatch also believed that he could persuade Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict is an American movie, television and stage actor, perhaps best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck in The A-Team television series and Lieutenant Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica film and television series.-Early life:Benedict was born...
to return and play Starbuck.
Although the trailer won acclaim at science-fiction conventions, Universal was not interested in Hatch's vision to revive Battlestar Galactica, and instead opted for a remake rather than the sequel for which Hatch had campaigned. Initially, Hatch (who claimed to have remortgaged his house to make the trailer) was bitterly disappointed by this turn of events and was highly critical of the prospective new series on his web site.
In 2004, he stated to Sci-Fi Pulse that he had felt resentment over the failure of his planned Galactica continuation and was left "exhausted and sick... I had, over the past several years, bonded deeply with the original characters and story... writing the novels and the comic books and really campaigning to bring back the show".
Battlestar Galactica re-imagining
Despite his resentment, Hatch developed a respect for Ronald D. MooreRonald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
, the new series' writer and producer, when he appeared as a featured guest at Galacticon (the Battlestar Galactica 25th anniversary convention, hosted by Hatch) and answered questions posed by a very hostile audience. http://scifipulse.net/?tag=richard-hatch. Later, in 2004, Hatch was offered and accepted a recurring role in the new Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
series. He played Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
, a terrorist turned politician, who spent twenty years in prison for blowing up a government building; Hatch has said the character was presented to him as a Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
figure, and that he views Zarek as challenging the status quo and working for the common man. Hatch/Zarek spends most of his first episode in heated debate with Captain Apollo (played by Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber is the stage name of Jamie St. John Bamber Griffith , a British actor known most widely for his roles as Lee Adama on Battlestar Galactica and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin on the ITV series Law & Order: UK...
), the role that Hatch had played in the original series. He has appeared in several further episodes of the series as a guest star until 2009. After accepting the Zarek role, Hatch stated "it was a very deep and profound struggle for me to let go and realize that I was not the creator of the series and it didn’t belong to me... I’ve finally come to terms with and accepted that."
Other work
Alongside his attempts to revive the original Battlestar Galactica, Hatch created his own space operaSpace opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
entitled The Great War of Magellan. He has written a comic book series and a role-playing game in support of this, and is presently working a novel trilogy with Brad Linaweaver
Brad Linaweaver
Bradford Swain Linaweaver is a science fiction writer and screenwriting for low budget movies.The novella version of his novel 'Moon of Ice' was a Nebula Award finalist and the novel length version won a Prometheus Award....
(who co-authored many of Hatch's Battlestar Galactica novels).
Most recently, Hatch has been working on a new reality TV series called Who the Frak?, which he created and appears in as himself. The series is touted as "the world's first social network reality drama".
Hatch can also be heard in numerous television commercials and other voice-overs.
Personal life
When not acting, Hatch lectures and conducts workshops on acting, self-expression, and communication throughout the world. He appears annually at the San Diego Comic Con International to sign autographs and host a panel to discuss his career and his upcoming projects.Battlestar Galactica bibliography
- Armageddon (August 1, 1997)
- Warhawk (September 1, 1998)
- Resurrection (July 1, 2001)
- Rebellion (July 1, 2002)
- Paradis (July 1, 2003)
- Destiny (June 29, 2004)
- Redemption (November 25, 2005)