Mark Goddard played the cantankerous Jupiter 2 pilot Major Don West in the 1960s CBS adventure series lost in space, already dead. He is 87 years old.
Goddard’s third wife, Evelyn Pezzulich, told the news of Goddard’s death on Tuesday in Hingham, Mass. hollywood reporter. The cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis.
Goddard had a recurring role on the four-star TV series Johnny Ringo and detectives When his agent contacted him about boarding a new plane lost in spacecreated and produced by Owen Allen.
The sci-fi drama revolves around the adventures of the Robinson family: Professor John Robinson (Guy Williams); his biochemist wife Maureen (Joan Lockhart); and their children Judy, Penny and Will (Marta Christine, Angela Cartwright and Billy Mummy respectively).
Major West is also on board, along with a stowaway, Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) and a robot (played by Forbidden Planet’Robert Kinoshita (played by Bob May and voiced by Dick Tufeld). Their space colonization mission began in October 1997, but went awry when a clumsy Dr. Smith caused their spacecraft to veer off course.
“It’s about a family going into space, and there’s going to be a lot of adventure, earthquakes…” Goddard recalled his agent saying in an interview for Tom Weaver’s 1995 book, They fight in creature features.
“I said, ‘Gee, I don’t know, I’m not sure because of the subject matter.’ (Goddard’s agent) said, ‘Well, listen, you just do it and don’t worry about it. Just take the money. Because no one will see it, it will never sell.”
Driven by a pilot project that cost $600,000 and took 21 days to complete, lost in space From September 1965 to March 1968, there were three seasons with a total of 83 episodes. Goddard’s character is primarily at odds with Dr. Smith and, like everyone else in the show, is upstaged by the robots.
As Goddard wrote in his 2008 memoir, Travel to space and backwhen he first saw himself in a tight silver lamé space suit, he “took a deep breath, took another look at the image of a foil baked potato, and said to himself, ‘How the hell did this happen?’ ?'”
Charles Harvey Goddard was born on July 24, 1936, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children. He grew up in the coastal town of Scituate, where his father owned a grocery store, and he attended Holy Cross but left during his junior year in 1958 to pursue an acting career.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be the next Jimmy Dean.'” When I went to New York, there were about five hundred Jimmy Deans running around,” he told Weaver. “We all have red jackets and scooters.”
Goddard studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and worked nights at Woolworths before coming to Hollywood in 1959, where he appeared in Rifleman And in TV movies, woman runningstarring Joan Crawford and directed by Dick Powell.
Both projects were designed for Four Star, a company co-founded by Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer and Joel McCrea.
Goddard later starred in the film as Cully, the second-in-command of a former gunman (played by Don Durant). Johnny Ringois a 1959-60 Western produced by CBS and Four Star, and was the first series produced by Aaron Spelling.
When that show was canceled, Powell asked Goddard to appear on the ABC show detectives In September 1960, he played Sgt. Chris Ballard injects a dose of youthful energy into the Robert Taylor starrer. (Adam West watched the show’s final season on NBC.)
Goddard subsequently appeared in films such as Burke’s Law, beverly hills man, bill dana show and perry mason Before playing Elinor Donahue’s husband on the 1964-65 CBS comedy many happy returns, set in a department store. (After all, he worked at Woolworths.)
Goddard says he was never tested as an actor lost in spacealthough he found the atmosphere on set challenging.
“It’s been tense,” he told Weaver. “The relationship with the cameraman was tense, the relationship with the screenwriter was tense, there was always something going on. … You know what they say, ‘The fish stinks from the beginning?'” “
“It’s unfair to say that because Owen is dead and he can’t defend himself, but I think his perfection, the things he wanted and the way he wanted them, his very cold attitude towards everyone – that From his treatment of the writers, directors, actors, and crew. You can feel it.”
Goddard said that by the end of the series, he was earning $1,170 a week.
On Facebook, Mummy called Goddard “a truly wonderful actor…gifted and trained,” noting that they had “so many wonderful and unforgettable moments together during the three years they were filming the show. Time. We got into some really stupid trouble.”
Goddard also acted in films monkey’s uncle (1965) with Annette Funicello; anger to live (1965), starring Susanna Pleshette; and love penetration (1967) in that era.
back lost in spaceGoddard said he was pitched as a “space show” actor.He works in soap operas All life and general Hospital; guest starring roles such as Petrocelli, San Francisco streets, benson and barnaby jones; and appeared in the 1977 film blue sunshine.
He made a cameo in the 1998 film (as did Lockhart, Cartwright, and Christine) lost in space Adapted from the feature film starring Matt LeBlanc as Don West. Ignacio Serricchio played his role in Netflix’s series, which ran for three seasons from 2018-21.
Goddard went on to complete his college education, earning a master’s degree and teaching special education children in his hometown for more than 20 years.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his daughter, Melissa Goddard, a producer on the 1992 film poison ivy; sons John and Michael; and sisters Joan and Patricia. His second wife was actress Susan Anspach (Five simple pieces, bloom in love).
