‘Lost in Space’ actor was 87 years old – The Hollywood Reporter

Mark Goddard played Major Don West, the short-tempered Jupiter 2 pilot on the 1960s CBS adventure series. lost in space,died. He was 87 years old.

Mr. Goddard died Tuesday in Hingham, Massachusetts, said his third wife, Evelyn Pezurich. hollywood reporter. The cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis.

Goddard worked as a regular on the Forster television series Johnny Ringo and detectives When he was approached by his agent about flying a new plane, lost in spacecreated and produced by Irwin Allen.

This science fiction show revolved around the adventures of the Robinson family. Professor John Robinson (Guy Williams). his biochemist wife Maureen (June Lockhart); and their children Judy, Penny, and Will (Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright, and Billy Mumie, respectively).

Major West is also on board, along with stowaway Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) and a robot (designed by Jonathan Harris). Forbidden Planet”(voiced by Dick Tufeld, played by Robert Kinoshita and Bob May). Their space colonization mission, which begins in October 1997, is foiled when the clumsy Dr. Smith throws the spaceship off course.

“It’s about a family going into space, and there’s going to be a lot of adventure and earthquakes…” Goddard said, recalling his agent’s pitch in an interview for Tom Weaver’s 1995 book. They fought with creature traits.

“I said, ‘Well, I don’t know, I don’t know, because of the subject matter.’ [Goddard’s agent] I said, “Well, listen, you just do it and don’t worry about it.” Please take the money. No one will see it and it will never sell. ”

Powered by a $600,000 pilot that took 21 days to complete. lost in space Goddard’s character mainly had a feud with Dr. Smith and, like the rest of the show’s cast, was turned on by the robots.

Goddard wrote in his 2008 memoir: To space and back, the first time he saw himself in a tight-fitting spacesuit with silver glitter, he “took a deep breath, looked again at the image of the aluminum-wrapped baked potato, and said to himself, ‘ How could this have happened?” ”

Charles Harvey Goddard was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1936, the youngest of five children. Raised in the coastal town of Scituate, where his father owned a general store, he attended Holy Cross College, but dropped out midway through his junior year in 1958 to pursue theater.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be the next Jimmy Dean.’ And when I went to New York, there were about 500 Jimmy Deans running around,” he told Weaver. . “We all wore red jackets and little bikes.”

Goddard studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts while working nights at Woolworths, then came to Hollywood in 1959 to appear in episodes of films. rifleman And in TV movies, woman on the runstarring Joan Crawford and directed by Dick Powell.

Both projects were for Four Star, a company co-founded by Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer and Joel McCrea.

Goddard then played Curry, a former gunman’s (Don Durant) lieutenant. Johnny Ringoa 1959-1960 CBS and Forster Western, was the first series produced by Aaron Spelling.

When that show was canceled, Powell cast Goddard on the ABC show. detectives He played Sgt. in September 1960. He injected youthful vigor into the film, starring Chris Ballard and Robert Taylor. (Adam West joined the series in its final season on NBC.)

Goddard then appeared in episodes of shows such as: Burke’s law, beverly hillbillies, bill dana show and perry mason Before playing the husband of Eleanor Donahue’s character on the 1964-1965 CBS comedy many happy returns, Set in a department store. (He worked at Woolworths, after all.)

Goddard said he was never tested as an actor in a movie. lost in spaceHowever, he found the atmosphere on set difficult.

“There was always a sense of tension,” he told Weaver. “There was tension with the cinematographer, there was tension with the screenwriter who was leaving, there was always something going on. …They say, ‘Fish stinks from the head,’ right?

“It’s not fair to say this, because Irwin is dead and can’t protect himself, but his kind of perfection, what he wanted and how he wanted it, against anyone. A very callous attitude, which I think was instilled in him from the beginning, to the writers, directors, cast and crew. You could feel it too. ”

Goddard said he was earning $1,170 a week by the end of the series.

Mumy called Goddard on Facebook “a truly amazing actor with natural talent and training” and said they “spent so many wonderful and memorable times together during the three years of filming the series.” I got into a pretty stupid problem. ”

Goddard has also appeared in the film. monkey uncle (1965) Co-starred with Annette Funicello. anger towards life (1965), starring Suzanne Pleshette.and The Loveins (1967) In such an era.

rear lost in space, Goddard said he had been typecast as an actor on a “space show.”he worked on melodrama Only one life to live and general HospitalGuest appearances on programs such as ; Vaseline, San Francisco cityscape, benson and barnaby jones; Also appeared in the 1977 film blue sunshine.

He made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film (along with Lockhart, Cartwright, and Kristen). lost in space A feature film starring Matt LeBlanc as Don West. He was played by Ignacio Serricchio in the Netflix series, which ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2021.

Goddard completed his college education, earned a master’s degree, and taught special education children in his home state for over 20 years.

In addition to his wife, survivors include a daughter, Melissa Goddard, who was a producer on the 1992 film. poison ivy; sons John and Michael; and sisters June and Patricia. His second wife was actress Susan Anspach (easy 5 pieces, bloom in love).