For a generation of young viewers fascinated by NASA, the Apollo moon missions, and the “space race” of the era, Lost in Space provided pure escapism—and an instant TV shortcut to the fanciful, futuristic answers of what might be “out there.” In their way-off-course serio-comic travels, the Robinsons encountered all sorts of weird and wacky alien creatures—hillbilly witches, loony pirates, a giant cyclops, an ape-chicken, a space Viking, a guy in a carrot costume, a motorcycle gang vroom-vrooming on the far side of the Milky Way. Kooky, matinee-movie astro-adventure served up on a prime-time platter, Lost in Space was kitschy, dumb-fun, hammy studio-set, far-out faux-thrills with a wink-wink nudge of silliness, letting the audience know that everything was all one big, galactic-goofball inside joke—complete with guest-star cameos. Eagle-eyed viewers over the show’s three seasons could spot Col. Klink from Hogan’s Heroes (Werner Klemperer), Lurch from The Addams Family (Ted Cassidy), The Munsters’ Grandpa (Al Lewis), veteran actor John Carradine, comedian Wally Cox or Arte Johnson from Laugh-In, to name just a few. Each week was like opening an inter-dimensional space wormhole that flung open all of TV land, and you never knew who was going to spill out onto the screen. Made into a feature film in 1998, and then rebooted as a hit Netflix series in 2018, the newest Lost in Space has just completed production on its third season, starring Maxwell Jenkins, Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall and Parker Posey. In all its later incarnations, Lost in Space got darker, more serious and somber, a lot more dramatic—and much less fun. The original continues to fascinate, however, as a groundbreaking, trendsetting time capsule of 1960s free-spirited, freeze-framed, groove-tube space funk. And the actors in the original series will always have a place in our Space TV Hall of Fame. The cast and crew of the Jupiter II went on to other projects after Lost in Space “landed” in 1968. Click through below to see where the Lost in Space cast is now.
Lost in Space Cast: Where Are They Now?
Angela Cartwright
Angela Cartwright (Penny), 68, had a show-biz career before Lost in Space, playing Danny Thomas’ daughter, Linda, on TV’s The Danny Thomas Show (1957-1964), and little Brigitta Von Trapp in the movie The Sound of Music (1965), for which she did her own singing. But even before that, at age 3, she had already made her movie debut, alongside Paul Newman—no less—as his character’s daughter in his movie Somebody Up Here Likes Me. The British-born actress appeared in several TV shows after Lost in Space as well, including My Three Sons, Adam-12 and The Love Boat, and she played Theresa Mazzetti in the movie Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)—which was directed by Lost in Space producer Irwin Allen. And if you saw the Netflix reboot of Lost in Space, you likely saw her in the second season, as Dr. Smith’s mother. The “little sis” of actress Veronica Cartwright (she was Lambert in Alien), Cartwright has been a photography buff since she was a teenager, and she’s pursued her hobby professionally as an adult, publishing several books and opening a gallery of her work.
Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard (hunky Major Don West), 84, went on to appear in various TV shows of the ’70s and ’80s and had recurring roles in the soap operas One Life to Live, The Doctors and General Hospital. The dashingly handsome former high school basketball and baseball star got his first acting job—a role on the TV Western Johnny Ringo—after only three weeks in Hollywood. A distant cousin of Robert H. Goddard, the pioneer of modern rocketry, he eventually left Hollywood and got his college degree in special education, teaching for 20 years back in his home state of Massachusetts. (He did make a cameo appearance in the 1998 movie reboot of the TV show that made him famous.) His 2009 memoir was titled, appropriate enough, To Space and Back.
Marta Kristen
Marta Kristen (older daughter Judy Robinson), 75, was taken from a Norway orphanage to be raised by adoptive parents in Michigan before relocating to Hollywood. When offered her first role, the part of the nymphet temptress in the movie Lolita (1962), her parents wouldn’t allow it, and the role eventually went—and brought notoriety—to young Sue Lyon. But she did get her early start in TV episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave it to Beaver and My Three Sons. After Lost in Space, she worked in TV commercials (doing spots for Clairol, Doctor Pepper, Golden Graham, Diet Tab, Sony TVs, Vaseline Intensive Care hand lotion and Advil), many other TV shows and theater, and popped into the movie Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) as Loreili, the mermaid. Today she makes appearances at sci-fi conventions. In 2016 she was among a large gathering of former child actors contributing career memorabilia for auction to benefit A Minor Consideration, a Hollywood organization providing assistance to some of the industry’s youngest performers.
June Lockhart
June Lockhart (wife and mom Maureen Robinson), 95, had other memorable TV roles in Lassie and Petticoat Junction. The Emmy and Tony-winning actress got her start in 1938, performing (uncredited) at age 8 as Belinda Cratchit alongside her show-biz parents in the movie A Christmas Carol. In addition to her two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she also has an Exceptional Public Achievement Medal from NASA for continuing to inspire the public’s interest in space, beginning with Lost in Space and continuing as a volunteer spokesperson for NASA and the space program; she’s the first actress to ever receive the honor. “I have so many friends among the astronaut group saying that watching Lost in Space as little boys made them know what they wanted to do,” she says. “It’s astonishing to know that it inspired so many people, but it’s lovely.” She has continued to make appearances in recent years on TV shows including Las Vegas, Cold Case and The Drew Carey Show. And she’ll always be television’s coolest space mom.
Bill Mumy
Bill Mumy (son Will Robinson), 67, has worked on more than 400 TV shows; narrated over 50 episodes of A&E’s Biography series; voiced many other television and commercial projects (including spots for Bud Ice, Farmers Insurance, Ford, Blockbuster, Twix, Oscar Meyer and McDonalds); produced and written Space Castles, a Nickelodeon comedy series; written dozens of songs; released several solo music CDs; and written for Marvel Comics. As a member of the quirky rock duo Barnes and Barnes in the late 1970s, he found worldwide cult fame with the song “Fish Heads,” which Rolling Stone cited as #57 on its list of Top Videos of All Time. (Mumy says the fish he and his partner purchased at the Santa Monica market—to decapitate for the all-day video shoot—created a memorably “odiferous event.”) He was prolific even as a child star, appearing as a tyke on three memorable episodes of the original Twilight Zone; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Perry Mason; The Fugitive; and Bewitched—in the episode “Junior Executive,” he played a pint-sized version of Darrin Stevens. And in the 1965 movie Dear Brigitte, he was a child mathematical genius with a mad crush on French sexpot Brigitte Bardot (playing herself). In 2018 he appeared in the pilot episode of the Netflix Lost in Space reboot, as Dr. Z. Smith, in homage to Jonathan Harris’ character on the original series. You can order Mumy’s music, books and other memorabilia at billmumy.com.
Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris (Dr. Zachary Smith) died in 2002 at the age of 87 of an arterial blood clot. A character actor who became a TV icon as the duplicitous, fussy stowaway doc, Harris was born Jonathan Charasuchin in the Bronx to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. Detesting his Yiddish accident, he cultivated a dapper English lilt by watching British B-movies as a child and developing an interest in Broadway, Shakespeare, Latin, and romantic poetry. Earning a degree in pharmacology from Fordham University and working briefly in drugstores before changing his last name to Harris and heading to Hollywood, he went on to appear in some 500 TV shows, including The Twilight Zone, Bonanza (he played Charles Dickens!) and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett. After the Jupiter II landed, he taught drama, and one of his pupils was action star Chuck Norris—who always credited Harris with teaching him proper diction by sticking his fingers down Norris’ throat. (The macho-man actor—best known for the Walker, Texas Ranger franchise, Delta Force and other movies with titles like Lone Wolf McQuade, Forced Vengeance and An Eye for an Eye—has noted that Harris was the only person in the world he would have allowed to put fingers into his mouth.) In later years, Harris provided voices for the animated films A Bug’s Life and Toy Story II (he’s Geri, the Cleaner who “restores” Woody).
Guy Williams
Guy Williams (space dad John Robinson) died in April 1989 at age 65 of a brain aneurysm. Born Armando Joseph Catalano to Sicilian immigrant parents in the Little Italy section of New York City, he worked as a welder and aircraft-parts inspector during World War II, then became a fashion model for newspapers and magazines before changing his name to Guy Williams and pursuing an acting career. But a series of promising supporting roles in war movies, Westerns and cop dramas was cut short when he fell off a horse and was dragged some 200 yards, seriously injuring his shoulder. When he finally returned to acting, four years later, he learned to fence for the lead role in the new Disney series Zorro, as the dapper masked, moustached nobleman with a “secret” sword-fighting alter ego. The show, a big hit that spawned two movies, led to his Lost in Space starringrole—and then to his retirement in Argentina, where his fame as the Spanish swordfighter El Zorro had made him a superstar. In accordance with his wishes, after his death, his body was cremated and his ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean offshore Malibu, Calif.
Bob May
Bob May (the Robot) died in 2009 at the age of 70 of congestive heart failure. Who appeared in all 83 episodes of the show, but was never seen? That would be May, who was inside the prop costume of the “Robot” (whose overdubbed voice was provided by Dick Tufeld, who also narrated the series). May, a veteran actor, stage performer and director, appeared in various 1960s movies (Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor) and TV shows (The Time Tunnel—he was Adolph Hitler in one episode) and performed as a stuntman on shows throughout the 1960s, including Hawaiian Eye, Stagecoach, Surfside Six and 77 Sunset Strip. He got the job on Lost in Space because he happened to “fit” inside the hollow metal-and-fiberglass robot prop, and he came to call it his “home away from away.” Technicians even fitted the interior of the robot with an ashtray so May could take his cigarette breaks without having to wiggle out of the unwieldy suit, then squeeze back in.
Lost in Space Trivia Quiz
Space Smarts Test your Lost in Space I.Q. with these brainteasers about the 1965-1968 TV series.
- Lost in Space creator Irwin Allen went on to produce and direct numerous other TV shows and movies. Which one of these was not one of his films? A. The Poseidon Adventure B. Land of the Giants C. TheSwiss Family Robinson D. Jason and the Argonauts
- What had to be “toned down” in deference to the TV show’s younger viewers? A. Scientific jargon B. Kissing scenes C. Scary space monsters D. Blatant commercial plugs
- This actor was originally considered to play the cowardly, prissy stowaway, Dr. Smith. A. Alan (MAS*H) Alda B. Carroll (All in the Family) O’Connor C. Tony (The Odd Couple) Randall D. Telly (Kojack) Savalas
- The original title of the series was… A. Space Family Robinson B. Fly Me to the Moon C. Marooned! D. Way, Way Out
- The robot’s name was… A. Robbie B. Gunter C. PAL D. Robot
- How did the Jupiter II become “lost in space”? A. The robot made a navigational error. B. Dr. Smith’s added weight threw the vessel off course. C. The ship flew through a meteor shower. D. Will and Penny spilled pop on the instrument panel.
- Guy Williams had numerous other movie and TV roles, including these two: A. The Lone Ranger and Tarzan B. Ben Cartwright’s nephew on Bonanza,andSinbad the Sailor C. The Green Hornet and Dick Tracy D. Hercules and George of the Jungle
- In one episode, Will and Judy sing around a campfire to what popular 1960s song? A. “Stand By Me” B. “I Wanna Be Free” C. “Sloop John B” D. “Crimson and Clover”
- What reigning blockbuster did the 1998 movie remake of Lost in Space dethrone from the No. 1 box-office spot? A. Titanic B. Saving Private Ryan C. Toy Story 2 D. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- What Friends TV star appeared in the 1998 Lost in Space movie? A. Matthew Perry B. Lisa Kudrow C. David Schwimmer D. Matt LeBlanc Answers: 1.D, 2.B, 3.B., 4.A., 5.D, 6.B, 7.B, 8.C, 9.A., 10.D Want more trivia questions? Try our Pop Culture Trivia and The Office trivia.
