Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American actress. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the age of eight her parents separated and she moved to California with her mother. By the age of 15 she began pursuing a career in modelling, and within a few years she was considered one of the top models in New York.
In 1967 she made her debut on television as a dancer in the variety series Malibu U. A year later she married her high school sweetheart Ken Schwartz, and their son Kevan was born in 1976. While living in New York she began to develop an interest in acting, and so her family moved with her to Hollywood. Her first starring role was on the mini-series Evening In Byzantium, in 1978.
Gray is best known for her roles as Colonel Wilma Deering in the 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Kate Summers in the 1982-1987 television series Silver Spoons. Concerning her Buck Rogers role, she told an interviewer "I was the first female colonel. I enjoyed being that kind of role model for young women watching the show. A woman can be a colonel! A woman can be in charge! Those were new ideas then."
In 1991, she had a featured role in Jason Goes To Hell, an entry in the Friday the 13th series.
During the 1990s her marriage ended in a divorce, and she also suffered through several deaths in her family. She married Richard Hissong, and they had a daughter Samantha in 1991.
Besides her acting work, Gray is also active in teaching Tai Chi and in the late 1990s wrote a book entitled Act Right which contains advice for novice television and movie actors; a revised edition (ISBN 1584360003) was published in 2001.
Gray continues to act and in 2005 appeared in the film, Siren.
Gray was interviewed on the podcast radio show The Future And You for February 25, 2006.
