What a treat to spend some time with Erin Gray at Hal-Con 2011. She was such an inspiration for me as a young girl. Smart, serious and not instantly swooned by Buck Rogers, she was one of my earlier heroes.
On stage she just beamed. You could tell she had the best time sharing stories and disclosed some of the challenges of being a mom and an actress on such a wild science fiction show. Vampires, explosions, survivor of domestic violence and how a psychic helped her re-invent her life, this was one fascinating Q&A.
Erin shared a lot of stories about being on the set of Buck Rogers but this one about the vampire scene was great although her son might not agree with me.
I was thrilled to hear that Erin is going to be guest starring on an episode in season 5 of The Guild! A tribute to Colonel Wilma. Reg and I are huge fans of the show and in this clip Erin talks about how amazing Felicia Day is.
Once again Erin scares the heck out of one of her children when she takes her son to work and the Draconian Flag Ship blows up right in front of his eyes!
Erin also shared with us that she is a survivor of domestic violence and when she needed help, she asked the Universe for a sign and said, I don't care if it comes from a psychic! Well didn't a psychic from Chicago contact her!
The psychic asked, "Are you doing anything like, you're an agent? Go more in that direction."
Erin had a hard time figuring out what that meant. She went online looking for conventions and shows and spoke with Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers himself) and he said he wanted to go too. He would give her a 10% commission. She was shocked! From there, other "heroes" wanted her help so she created Heroes for Hire. She said several times during the Q&A, "I'm all about heroes."
How wonderful it was to listen to Erin's stories and see just how much fun she had on the show. You could tell that it is an experience that is with her every moment. To see a woman who has been through and lost so much, to come back and be this vibrant force of nature sharing her stories on the stage was so inspiring.
Erin's message? "It's all about doing it your way."
Damn straight Colonel Wilma. Damn straight.
2 comments:
Great blog article. I too am very inspired by Erin Gray, she is such a positive role model for women. She is the queen of reinventing herself - model, actress, writer, agency, tai chi master - go Erin!
That you so much! And she really is a positive role model, isn't she? I have thought about her constantly since I saw her interview, especially when she spoke about Felicia Day and that women today should do it all themselves and not depend on others. What a hero!
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