Richard Hatch Looks Back On His Career And Battlestar
21 September 2004
Richard Hatch who is best known for his role as Captain Apollo in the hit 1970's TV series Battlestar Galactica recently spoke to Insomniac Mania about some of the highlights of his early acting career where he guest starred in such hit TV shows as ‘The Walton's', ‘Hawaii 5 0' and of course his memories of Battlestar Galactica.
One of the hit TV shows of the 1970s was the Walton's which starred Richard Thomas as John Boy, but also had many guest appearances off of a very young and fresh faced Richard Hatch. “I did many, many guest starring roles on ‘The Walton's'. That was a famous show with Richard Thomas, that was a very famous television series here in the States.” The actor revealed to Insomniac Mania.
Another series that Hatch appeared in on numerous occasions was ‘ Hawaii 5 0' which was a very big cop show made in the early 70's which starred Jack Lord. “I did multiple ‘ Hawaii 5 0 ‘guest stars, I guest starred on that show many times. I guest starred on many shows. Hundreds of guest star roles.” Hatch told the website.
When asked which of the above two TV shows presented him with the most fun Hatch revealed that he enjoyed the cop show more than the dramatic Walton's which was set in the rocky mountains. “Well “Hawaii 5 0” for an actor was incredible, because when you're not famous and you don't have any money, they put you on a plane, take you to Hawaii, put you up in a nice hotel, and you get to live the life for a week while they film the episode. Jack ward was incredible to work with.”
Of course it was a stint in the US Soap ‘All My Children' which pretty much presented Hatch with a steady job for awhile, before he went on to replace Michael Douglas as Dan Robbins in the final season of ‘The Streets Of San Francisco' and that was Hatch's first experience of playing a lead in a prime time TV show, shortly thereafter he went on to portray the role of Captain Apollo in the classic TV series Battlestar Galactica which was produced by Glen A. Larson.
Although Richard Hatch has fought for many years to get a continuation of Battlestar Galactica, it may surprise a few fans to hear that the actor nearly walked out on the series which more or less solidified him as a house hold name throughout the 1970's and 1980's.
“I felt like leaving the show because initially I got involved in that show because I thought I was going to get the chance to do some good acting, and get some good material to work with, and after the first couple of episodes, I felt like my character was not given very much to do. I felt that they made Starbuck the essential character of the show and I really felt that my character was not getting an equal opportunity to, you know, do things on the show, and I felt that I was frustrated, and not as a star or an egotistical person. I was frustrated because I was very careful when I took that show.”
However Richards Concerns for his role of Captain Apollo in Battlestar were eventually addressed by the production team and by the end of the series Hatch felt much happier.
After Galactica ended its one year run Richard was back to TV guest roles, and one guest starring role had him working with Star Trek's William Shatner in the TV cop show TJ Hooker. Many of Shatners co stars from Star Trek have often stated that he is somewhat of an egomaniac that has no regard for the feelings of his co stars or his supporting cast. However Hatch has a completely different take about Bill Shatner and pretty much reveals that he has always held Shatner in very high regard.
“Actors like that, its not that they're egotistical its just that they're very self possessed. They're very charismatic characters who basically, you know, have a very powerful presence and I found him a gentleman. I found every time I've ever met William Shatner, he's always been a gentlemen, I think he's a deep thinker, I think he's an educated man, and intelligent.”
You can read much more about what Richard Hatch shared with Insomniac Mania here at their website where he talks about his many guest starring roles as well as his love of Science Fiction and Battlestar Galactica.