Richard Hatch (b. May 21, 1945 in Santa Monica, California) is an American actor best known for his role of Captain Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica movie and television series, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination. He began his theatrical career with the Los Angeles Repertory Theater. He starred off-Broadway in several plays and musicals and won the Obie Award for his work in PS Your Cat Is Dead in Chicago. He also has appeared in the American soap operas Dynasty, All My Children and Santa Barbara. He is currently in a recurring role as Tom Zarek in the second version of Battlestar Galactica.

Before Battlestar Galactica, he replaced Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Francisco and won Germany's Bravo Youth Magazine Award for the role. He has also starred in such movies as The Hatfields and The McCoys with Jack Palance, Addie and The Kings Of Hearts with Jason Robards, Last Of The Belles with Susan Sarandon, and the cult classic Deadman's Curve where he portrayed Jan Berry of the musical group Jan and Dean. Hatch can also be heard in numerous television commercials and other voice-overs.

Hatch wrote, co-directed and executive-produced a Battlestar Galactica trailer, called The Second Coming that won acclaim at science-fiction conventions. He produced the trailer to pressure Universal into creating a new series of Battlestar Galactica that would have been a direct continuation of the original series. Original actors John Colicos (Baltar), Terry Carter (Col. Tigh) and Jack Stauffer (Bojay) appeared in the trailer along with Hatch himself. It is presumed that the actors would have appeared in the series itself. Hatch also believed that he could persuade Dirk Benedict to return and play Starbuck.

He also co-authored a series of novels based on continuing the voyage of the Battlestar Galactica with his character (Captain Apollo) replacing Adama as Commander of the Galactica.

However, Battlestar Galactica returned to television screens as a re-imagining, rather than the sequel for which Hatch had campaigned. Initially, Hatch was bitterly disappointed by this turn of events and was highly critical of the prospective new series on his web site. However, Hatch developed a respect for Ronald D. Moore, the new series' producer, when he appeared as a featured guest at Galacticon (the Battlestar Galactica 25th anniversary convention, hosted by Hatch) and answered questions posed by a very hostile audience. In 2003, he was offered and accepted a recurring role in the new Battlestar Galactica series. He plays Tom Zarek, a terrorist turned politician, who spent twenty years in prison for blowing up a government building. In an irony probably intended by the show's producers, Hatch/Zarek spends most of his first episode in heated debate with Captain Apollo, the role that Hatch had played in the original series. He has appeared in several further episodes of the series as a guest star.

Hatch is in pre-production of his own space opera, The Great War of Magellan, and has written a comic book series and role-playing game in support of this. He is presently working a novel trilogy for The Great War of Magellan with his Battlestar Galactica co-author, Brad Linaweaver.

When not acting, Richard lectures and conducts workshops on acting, self-expression, and communication throughout the world.

Richard Hatch (born April 8, 1961) is the winner of the first American Survivor series, which aired in 2000 and was set in Borneo. He is currently incarcerated for tax evasion.

Prior to his Survivor appearance, Hatch was a corporate trainer from Newport, Rhode Island. He spent five years in the US Army, is a licensed real estate agent, and has also worked as a car salesman and a bartender.

Throughout the duration of Survivor, Hatch claimed his profession as a corporate trainer aided him in his ability to deal with other people. He also admitted to being very cocky, a trait he soon came to be known by, and even made the notorious statement (on Day One) that he "already had the million dollar check written in his name."

Is a licensed real estate agent

He spent five years in the Army, initially enlisting and then becoming a West Point Cadet.

Is halfway through the Masters' program in education and counseling at Providence College in Rhode Island

Studied oceanography and marine biology at Florida Institute of Technology

Studied management at The United States Military Academy

Studied general studies at George Mason University

He earned his Bachelor's degree in Management and Applied Behavioral Sciences through National-Louis University.

Has an adopted son, Christopher

Brought a journal as his luxury item on "Survivor."

Was arrested on April 27, 2000, after his son alleged to a school official that his father had pushed his face in the ground while doing pushups. Was arrested and charged with child abuse, and was released on his own recognizance. On May 27, the charges were dropped after a judge ruled that Richard's son had exaggerated it. Hatch is now suing the Dept. of Children, Youth, and Families and also plans to sue his son's school, which originally reported the incident. (Source: People Magazine, August 28, 2000)

Is the big $1 Million dollar winner on "Survivor"

Says he plans to use his Survivor money to start an outdoor program for troubled teens.

(2000) Book was turned down by a publishing company and later picked up by another. His book "101 Survival Secrets: How to Make A Million Dollars, Lose 100 lbs. and Live Happily Ever After" was originally titled "Survival Skills for Life: An Owner's Manual".

Made a Cameo appearance at the 2001 Super Bowl.

Author of 101 Survival Secrets: How to Win $1,000,000, Lose 100 Pounds, and Just Plain Live Happily. Appeared naked on the cover, with the title blocking his frontal nudity.

25 January 2005 - Found guilty on several counts of tax evasion in a Rhode Island US District Court.

Was the first person on the Australian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1999/II) (Celebrity special) to walk away without a cent, the question he got wrong was: What is 11 multiplied by 12?

Born in Santa Monica, California, USA, Richard Hatch was studying classical piano at the age of eight, and knew he wanted to carve out a career as a performer before he reached his teens. After attending Harbor College in San Pedro, he joined a Los Angeles repertory company with which he traveled to New York City in 1967. He performed in the plays "Song of Walt Whitman," "Young Rebels," and a production called "Exercise," which Richard directed. Richard was cast as the original Philip Brent in the soap "All My Children" in 1970. He later played Inspector Dan Robbins on the televison series "The Streets of San Francisco." Richard Hatch is best remembered for his portrayal of Apollo on the series, "Battlestar Galactica."