'Battlestar Galactica' Star Richard Hatch Dies At 71

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) –    Richard Hatch, one of daytime TV's first bonafide hearthrobs who found primetime success in two incarnations of sci-fi's "Battlestar Galactica," has died.

Hatch was 71.  He reportedly died after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Santa Monica-born actor first came to prominence in 1971 as Philip on "All My Chidren."

Phil and Tara (played by Karen Lynn Gorney, who went on to "Saturday Night Fever" fame") were one of soap's first super couples.

He left the show and came to Hollywood and did guest spots on just about every big show at the time including "The Rookies," "The Waltons," "Cannon" and  "Medical Center."

In 1976, he was hired to play Karl Malden's partner on "The Streets of San Francisco" when  Michael Douglas  went off to do movies.

Hatch would find his greatest fame as Captain Apollo on the original "Battlestar Galactica" in 1978,  So popular in the series, when "BG" was reignited as a series in 2004  he played another character, Tom Zarek.

He also voiced the role in a 2003 video game.

He wrote, directed and starred in a "BG" movie, "Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming" featuring all the surviving original cast.

Hatch was also bemused  that he shared the same name with the first "Survivor" winner, Richard Hatch who often walked around naked.

"We forget there are other people with our name," he said at the time, "and somehow we feel an ownership with our name. Honestly, this is one of the strangest experiences that's ever happened in my life and I'm having to deal with it."

According to his IMDB.com page, Hatch had completed a half dozen roles before his death.

Hatch is survived by his brother, and a son, Paul,  born in 1967.

For more about the actor, go to RichardHatch.com.