Although the characters
they play on_ television's
‘Battlestar Galactica’ are
evidently. not much older
than college boys on a romp,
Dirk Benedict and Richard
Hatch are quite a bit older.

Dirk Benedict, born in-
Sulphur Springs, Montana
portays Lieutenant  Star-
buck, a cigar-chomping
ladies’ man, flirtatious and
fit at the real-life age of 33. -

Benedict got his start on

Broadway.in-‘Butterflies_are

Free’ with Pamela Bellwood
(of the now defunct
“W.E.B.’). 4

Although his career. seems
to be zooming now, a few
years ago it was literally
crawling - as he played an.
assistant to a scientist in a
film called ‘Ssssss’ in which
he played a snake-man. .
~Fhis -country (the U.S.)
worships technology and
always has,” he theorizes on
*“Galactica’s’ success. “And
in space, everything can be
taken care of by pushing a
button or pulling a laser gun..

Space is a dream world for *

everybody, offering a
chance for the imagination
to run wild.”

Thirty-two-year-old _ Ric-
hard Hatch, as Captain
Apollo, is more settled,

Accoriiing to Alan Alda,
star of television's
“M*A*S*H” series, and
Starring in the film rendition
of the Broadway success,
“Same Time Next Year,”
movies are coming closer to
portraying life as it really is.

Explaining that the two
central characters have their
faults and weaknesses, Alda
says that “audiences can
certainly identify with that.”

“If you look at movies
made in the 30's, they were
giving audiences what they
wanted then — perfect
people in ideal situations.
The Western was a fine
example. You could always
tell the good guys because
they wore white hats, and
they never kissed the
heroine.

“Sure the epics are big

money-makers, bul now
there are more stories
dealing with the human

candition. Most of the car

10 OR MORE

Page 48, January 17, 1979: North Shore News ¢

Ba ttlestar stars speak out

mature, and as any
-Galactica fan knows, more
monogamous’ than his
friend. .

_ Hatch initially refused the
role in Galactica because he
felt it was too limited and
narrow. After script
‘revisions that are ‘said to
have . been’ severe, .he
changed his mind. _
e

Hatc h. had made
numerous” television’ ap-
pearances - before, and

eventually replaced Michael

.Douglas after he left “The

Streets of San Francisco.’
Much of Hatch’s portrayals
have_ involved giving the
baddies what they deserve.

..He says, however, that he is ~

against the glorified
depiction of violence.

“I think the softening and
romanticizing of violence is
wrong and_ certainly
misleading. The’ only way
we're going to turn our backs
on violence is to show it in its
most sickening aspects and
turn people off.”

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’
O
ane

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ante
ore,

Hatch might also consider
that he can take much.
consoktion from. the fact
that blasting the rivets out of
mechanical “Cyclons” might
not be considered “violence”
by many, since humans are
not involved. |

RICHARD HATCH

chases, shootings and gore
has been relegated to
television. To attract people
to the theatres, you have to
give them - something. they
won't see on the tube.”

, Alda says he does not like
to see stories based on blind

ife as it really i iS

” hope. “I like to see it based
on believable situations.
Also, I don’t like to escape
from reality. I like to escape
into it. I like to leave a
theatre feeling I have a little
better insight into my own
life.”

Alan Alda with Ellen Burstyn

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