The Only Main Actors Still Alive From Battlestar Galactica

Although it followed in the footsteps of "Star Trek" and "Star Wars," "Battlestar Galactica" faced a much more uphill battle to success. The show revolved around a far-flung band of refugees on the titular spaceshop fleeing the oppressive Cylons in a bid to find their mythical home planet, Earth — and as you might have guessed from the description, it was an expensive production when it first hit TV screens back in 1978. So expensive, in fact, that it only lasted two seasons before getting the ax from ABC, who were no longer willing to pay for ballooning production costs and get low ratings in return. Still, the characters on "Battlestar Galactica" wormed their way into the hearts of audiences, giving the occasionally controversial show a cult following and eventually earning a well-received remake series.

Unfortunately, not all of its cast members were around to see it get the reputation it deserved. Of the original cast of "Battlestar Galactica," we've lost many performers, and only five survive to this day: Dirk Benedict, Noah Hathaway, Maren Jensen, Herbert Jefferson Jr., and Laurette Spang. Here's where you may have seen them since.

During the short run of "Battlestar Galactica," Dirk Benedict played one of its most popular characters, the rogueish fighter pilot Lieutenant Starbuck. By the time he took on the role, he was a familiar face on television, having appeared in 13 episodes of "Chopper One" and two episodes of "Charlie's Angels." After "Battlestar Galactica" was canceled, Benedict continued working on the small screen throughout the 1980s, most notably as Templeton "Faceman" Peck on "The A-Team" from 1983 to 1987. 

He acted consistently for the next two decades, revisiting his most famous roles with a voice acting appearance in the 2003 "Battlestar Galactica" video game and a cameo performance in 2010's "The A-Team" film adaptation. His final on-screen performance was in 2020, when he played the character of Stanley in "Charlie's Christmas Wish." In addition to acting, Benedict has written two books: "Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy" in 1987 and "And Then We Went Fishing" in 2007, respectively.

You likely recognize Noah Hathaway from his work as a child actor in the 1980s. In addition to playing Boxey on "Battlestar Galactica," he became famous for his iconic performance of Atreyu in "The Neverending Story," a young warrior chosen to stand against the ominous Darkness. But in spite of how popular that 1984 fantasy film was, Hathaway struggled to maintain his presence in Hollywood after his teen years. 

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he worked as a dance instructor and tattoo artist, while also training in martial arts. Although he only had one acting role between 1986 and 2012, his career has experienced a resurgence over the past decade. In 2023 alone, he was featured in several low-budget horror films, including "Dick Dynamite 1944," "River Beauty," and "Las Vegas Frankenstein." He currently has two projects in varying stages of production: A thriller entitled "The Girl in the Coma" and an action film called "I Got a Bullet With Your Name On It!"

Herbert Jefferson Jr. is no stranger to space-themed projects — he not only starred as Lieutenant Boomer in "Battlestar Galactica," but also made appearances in "Apollo 13," "Star Trek: Renegades," and "Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey." But long before he took to the stars, Jefferson was another TV actor in the 1970s making his rounds on all the popular shows. Before "Battlestar Galactica," he was featured on shows like "The Partridge Family," "Mission: Impossible," "Columbo," and "The New Perry Mason."

After "Battlestar Galactica" came to an abrupt end, he didn't miss a bit, continuing his impressive TV career into the 1990s. You've likely seen him pop up on "Knight Rider," "The Devlin Connection," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Hill Street Blues, "ER," and "Sister, Sister," to name just a few. He seems to have retired from acting since then, however — his last on-screen credit was "Star Trek: Renegades," which came out nearly a decade ago.

If you're having a hard time remember what Maren Jensen acted in besides playing starfighter pilot Lieutenant Athena on "Battlestar Galactica," don't feel too bad. The actress's career in Hollywood wasn't particularly long-lived — she has just eight acting credits to her name. In addition to appearing in "Battlestar Galactica," she also had one-off roles in shows like "Fantasy Island," "The Love Boat," and "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries." Her last acting role — aside from a brief role in a Don Henley music video — came in 1981 when she starred alongside Sharon Stone in Wes Craven's "Deadly Blessing." 

Sadly, she was unable to continue her acting career after a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome prevented her from maintaining the grueling on-set schedules of a life in Hollywood. In the years since, she's transitioned into the world of business, co-founding the makeup brand Stila Cosmetics in 1993. With a focus on health and wellness, she announced in 2020 the founding of Glow Beauty Fuel, a company selling protein bars that, according to their mission statement, "enhance your outer beauty from within, increase your vitality, and nourish your body and spirit."

On "Battlestar Galactica," Laurette Spang played Cassiopeia, a medical officer who also happens to be rapidly falling in love with Starbuck (we can hardly blame her). She began her career in the early 1970s in a series of one-off performances on TV shows like "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Secrets of Isis," "Charlie's Angels," and "Emergency!," in addition to a multi-episode arc on the extremely popular "Happy Days." 

Athough she continued to work for a few years after "Battlestar Galactica" went off the air, it was clear that her Hollywood career was fading, and she disappeared from screens for nearly 20 years after a single episode appearance on "Magnum, P.I." It's likely that this choice coincided with a desire to devote more time to her family, as she married fellow actor John McCook in 1980 and they had three children together (one of which is Molly McCook, an actress with a thriving career of her own). Spang has worked on just one project since then: In 2007, she played the Lady in White in "Plan 7," a film that also featured her husband.