Lost in Space (CBS) Sept. 15, 1965-Mar. 6, 1968 = 83 Episodes
The Complete Cast Information
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- Actor
- Soundtrack
An exceptionally handsome and charismatic performer with a serene baritone voice, Guy Williams was born Armand Joseph Catalano (nicknamed "Armando" by his family) of Italian parentage in New York City on January 14, 1924. The elder child of an insurance broker (he had a younger sister, Valerie), he was raised in the Washington Heights area. Attending Peekskill Military Academy during his formative years, he originally broke into the entertainment field as a male fashion model. Guy subsequently joined New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, which led to such TV assignments as Studio One (1948), and he debuted in films with a featured role as the bombardier on the Enola Gay in the feature film The Beginning or the End (1947), the story about the first US-deployed atom bomb.
In 1952 he was given a screen test and signed by Universal Pictures. As tall, dark and athletic (6'3", 190 lb.) in Hollywood nearly always fits the bill, the highly photogenic Williams began paying his dues in unbilled bits in such standard movies as Back at the Front (1952), All I Desire (1953), The Golden Blade (1953) and Take Me to Town (1953). When he did manage to receive billing, he was rather benignly used: Bonzo Goes to College (1952) (sequel to Ronald Reagan's cult classic Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)), The Mississippi Gambler (1953) with Tyrone Power and The Man from the Alamo (1953) with Glenn Ford.
Guy eventually left Universal and freelanced in films, which would include a minor role as a cop in the cult horror classic I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) starring Michael Landon, and also added scattered TV appearances (Highway Patrol (1955), The Lone Ranger (1949)) to his resumé. Nothing, however, of major significance happened until Walt Disney came into the picture. His signing at age 33 to play Don Diego de la Vega, aka Zorro (1957), thrust Guy immediately into the celebrity limelight. His dashing good looks, eloquence and charm had female hearts fluttering, while the male audiences admired his fencing dexterity and effortless ladies'-man appeal. The Disney series was so popular that certain episodes were culled together and released into two feature films: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959).
Further propelled by Disney with his captivating role in The Prince and the Pauper: The Pauper King (1962), Guy was handed fully-bearded heroes to play in a couple of fantasy film adventures, portraying Damon in the costumer Damon and Pythias (1962) a/k/a "Damon and Pythias", and the title role in Captain Sindbad (1963), an MGM attraction. In 1964 he reunited with "Teen Werewolf" Michael Landon when he arrived on the Bonanza (1959) set to play cousin Will Cartwright for a few episodes.
The cult science fiction series Lost in Space (1965) would be Guy's last hurrah in show business. Although overshadowed extensively by the nefariously campy antics of Jonathan Harris' Dr. Smith character, Guy nevertheless provided a necessary strong anchor to the family show, which included June Lockhart as the silver-suited wife and mother of his three intergalactic offspring. Battling aliens and the forces of nature, the show's popularity went stratospheric at first. However, much like Batman (1966), it faded very quickly and ended up having a short life--three seasons.
When Guy first visited Argentina in 1973 he was quite taken by the signs of admiration and fascination the Argentines expressed for him and his signature character of "El Zorro." In turn Guy fell in love with the people and culture of Argentina. Eventually he retired, except for personal appearances, to Recoleta in the 1970s, an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He died there of a brain aneurysm at the age of 65 on April 30, 1989. Long married (since 1948) to Janice Cooper, he was survived by their two children.Armando Joseph Catalano
January 14, 1924 "Capricorn/Rat" in New York City - April 30, 1989 (age 65) in Buenos Aires, Argentina (brain aneurysm)
Prof. John Robinson (1965-1968)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in New York City on June 25, 1925, the daughter of actors Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart, June Lockhart made her professional debut at age eight in a Metropolitan Opera production of "Peter Ibbetson", playing Mimsey in the dream sequence. In the mid-1930s, the Lockharts relocated to California, where father Gene enjoyed a long career as one of the screen's great character actors. June made her screen debut in MGM's version of A Christmas Carol (1938), playing--appropriately enough the daughter of stars Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart. June appeared in a dozen or more movies before 1947, when she made her Broadway bow playing the ingénue in the comedy "For Love or Money" with John Loder. She got a standing ovation on opening night; one critic compared her debut to the first big hits of Helen Hayes and Margaret Sullavan. The overnight toast of Broadway, she went on to win a Tony Award, the Donaldson Award, the Theatre World Award and the Associated Press citation for Woman of the Year for Drama for her work in that play. On television, she has co-starred in popular series like Lassie (1954) and Lost in Space (1965).June 25, 1925 "Cancer/Ox" in New York City
Maureen Robinson (1965-1968)- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Born Charles Harvey Goddard, Mark Goddard was best known for his role as the feisty, combative Major Don West in the cult TV series Lost in Space (1965). The youngest of five siblings, he was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, but grew up in Scituate, raised as a Catholic. Though excelling in sports, Goddard gave up early ambitions of a professional basketball career. Following advice from the head of the dramatic society of the College of the Holy Cross, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan.
Two years later, he relocated to Los Angeles and, before long, received offers to act in television. His first recurring role on the small screen was as the lead character's deputy in the western series Johnny Ringo (1959). He replaced Lee Farr as one of The Detectives (1959), portraying police officer Chris Ballard in 64 episodes.
Goddard made guest appearances in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), The Virginian (1962), Gunsmoke (1955) and Perry Mason (1957) and co-starred alongside John McGiver in the short-lived sitcom Many Happy Returns (1964), before signing on as one of the crew in Irwin Allen 's Lost in Space. From season two, his character projected increasing antagonism towards the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith. After that series had run its course, Goddard remained a frequent guest TV star on popular shows like Mod Squad (1968) and The Streets of San Francisco (1972). He had recurring stints on the soaps One Life to Live (1968) and General Hospital (1963) and made occasional forays into film acting, most notably in the off-beat horror flick Blue Sunshine (1977) (as a drug dealer turned politician).
The following year, he made his sole Broadway appearance in the musical The Act, opposite Liza Minnelli and Barry Nelson. Well-received, it ran for 233 performances between October 1977 and July 1978. Goddard retired from acting in 2015.
In between acting, Goddard often sidelined working with children, including at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Having graduated with a Master's Degree in education from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, he eventually pursued a new vocation from 1991 as a special education teacher.
Goddard published his memoirs, "To Space and Back", in 2009. He was married three times. His second wife (divorced) was the actress Susan Anspach. His daughter is the producer Melissa Goddard .
Mark Goddard died of pulmonary fibrosis on October 10, 2023 at the age of 87.Charles Goddard
July 24, 1936 "Leo/Rat" in Lowell, Massachusetts
Maj. Don West (1965-1968)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marta Kristen was born Birgit Annalisa Rusanen, on February 26, 1945, in Oslo, Norway, to a Finnish mother and a German soldier who was killed towards the end of World War II in Europe. Marta was only two months old when she was left in an orphanage. In 1949, Dr. and Mrs. Harold Soderquist of Detroit, Michigan adopted her, and brought her to America; she was renamed Martha Soderquist.
In 1959, the family moved to L.A. and she attended Santa Monica High School for a year; she later graduated from Hollywood Professional School. Producer/director James B. Harris discovered the pretty, petite aspiring actress; he arranged for her to get an agent, and she was quickly booked for TV programs, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and The Loretta Young Show (1953) (aka "The New Loretta Young Show"). In 1963, Marta met a graduate student and, 6 months later, they got married. Her career took off and she made a splash as the mermaid "Lorelei" in Beach Blanket Bingo (1965). She would be best-known and remembered, however, for her signature role of "Judy Robinson" in Lost in Space (1965). However, the show was not as great as expected. Marta later said in an interview, "The show had so much promise. When it started to be silly, we all began to look at each other and say, 'We're in an episode with talking vegetables?' Five years of the Actors Studio, and I'm doing this?" Even worse, the show did not feature her prominently -- in the most popular episode, The Sky Pirate (1966), in which actor Albert Salmi (like Marta, of Finnish descent) guest-starred, she had only one word of dialogue (she gets to say "good-bye" to the pirate).
Offscreen, Marta tried to find her roots, but it was not until 1969, pregnant with her first child and traveling alone through Europe looking for her long-lost relatives, that Marta was able to find her biological mother in Finland; she also met her older sister for the first time, whom she didn't know about. Later that year, Marta returned to the USA, and her daughter Laura was born. Marta concentrated on raising her daughter, and instead of doing television or films, she appeared in over 40 TV commercials, which required less time away from home. Marta and her first husband divorced in 1973. In 1974, she met Kevin Kane, an attorney; they were married until his death in 2016.
Marta has remained moderately active in TV and movies, even appearing in the big screen version of Lost in Space (1998). And she discovered more family members in 1997, half-siblings -- a younger brother in Australia and a sister in Finland -- about whom she had known nothing.
Having always put her family ahead of her career, Marta revealed, in an interview, that she was "co-parenting my daughter's child, Lena. I used to do a lot of theater and traveled a lot. But those things are out of the picture for the next couple of years".Birgit Annalisa Rusanen
February 26, 1945 "Pisces/Rooster" in Oslo, Norway
Judy Robinson (1965-1968)- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Along with his most impressive list of television/film credits, Bill is also a very talented well-known musician, songwriter, recording artist, as well as writer. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, percussion and sings. He has released three solo CDs, 1997's "Dying To Be Heard", 1999's "In The Current" and the 2000 release of his third solo album, "Pandora's Box". All three released on Renaissance Records. In 1978, Bill and his partner, Robert Haimer, officially formed the infamous "quirky-rock duo" Barnes and Barnes. They are known worldwide, and have recorded 9 albums on Rhino and CBS Record labels. They also released a feature length home video titled "Zabagabee" featuring a Collaboration of Barnes and Barnes short films. Their infamous "Fish Heads" song placed #57 in Rolling Stones Top 100 Videos of All Time. In 2000, Ogio Records released the 24 song "Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes" CD. Bill was nominated for an Emmy in 1991/1992 for his original song composition for Adventures in Wonderland for Disney which he wrote 105 songs for 100 episodes. He also scored three episodes of the award winning PBS series The Universe and I and contributed songs and themes to Santa Barbara, TV Guide Looks At, Hard to Hold (1984), Plain Clothes (1988), Archie, Sunshine (1975), Bless the Beasts & Children (1971), The Simpsons (1989), and many other film and television projects. Bill and Miguel Ferrer are in a rock and roll band called the Jenerators. Their first CD and cassette titled the "Jenerators" was released in 1994 on Asil Records. Their second CD produced by Frank Wolf titled "Hitting The Silk" was released in November of 1998 on Wildcat Records. They perform in the Los Angeles area when possible. If that is not enough, Bill has also worked on various children albums as well. "The Yogi Bear Environmental Album: This Land Is Our Land" a 1993 release on Rhino Records/Hanna Barbera, "The Dinosaur Album" also a 1993 release on Rhino Records, and his album "Kiss My Boo Boo" which has been released on the Infinite Visions label.
In addition to his many other talents, Bill co-created the popular children television series, Space Cases (1996) with Peter David which he also co-wrote, produced, composed music for, and guest starred in as well. It was nominated for the 1996 Ace Award for "Outstanding Children's Series." The series has run globally in over sixty countries. Peter and Bill have written the screenplay to the feature film, "Overload" which Bill is also starring in. Bill has written as well as co-created many comic books, stories, and television series. He has written for Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics and Pocket Books. The stories he co-wrote include well-known titles as "Spider-Man", "The Hulk", and "Clive Barker's Hellraiser." He co-wrote a Star Trek trilogy "Return of the Worthy", and was a creative consultant and writer to the Lost In Space Innovation monthly comic. He also has written for DC comics, "Aquaman", "The Spectre" and "Star Trek". His writing projects include the feature film, _Overload_ and a fantasy novel co-written with Angela Cartwright, "Realms Of Majik: The Pocket in Reality". His short stories, "The Black '59" and "The Undeadliest Game" appeared in Pocket Books "Shock Rock" Volumes 1 and 2. Both have been printed globally in many languages. He has also written for animation, most recently an episode of the sci fi series, "Roswell Conspiracies". He has also written episodics for NBC's series, "Sunshine", USA network's Swamp Thing, as well as scripting an unfilmed episode of Babylon 5 (1993). He co-created and wrote the Marvel Comics series' "The Comet Man", "The Dreamwalker" graphic novel, and Dark Horse Comics' "Trypto, The Acid Dog" with Miguel Ferrer.
Included in his various multi-talent accomplishments, he is also a prolific voice over actor and can be heard narrating several of the prestigious "A&E: Biographies" as well as many other documentaries and specials. Some of his commercial work in that arena includes McDonalds, Mattel, Bud Ice, Amtrak, Blockbuster, Ford, KFC, Wal Mart, and Nickelodeon - just to name a few. He is presently doing all the television and radio spots for Farmers Insurance. His voice over work in animation includes The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991), Batman: The Animated Series (1992), Animaniacs (1993), Little Wizard Adventures, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000).Charles William Mumy Jr.
February 1, 1954 "Aquarius/Horse" in San Gabriel, California
Will Robinson (1965-1968)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in England, Angela is the younger sister of actress Veronica Cartwright. As a child she was cast as the cute little stepdaughter, Linda Williams, on The Danny Thomas Show (1953). She was on the show from 1957 to 1964. After that, she was cast as Brigitta in the popular Julie Andrews movie The Sound of Music (1965). Soon after, she returned to series TV as Penny Robinson, young teenage space traveler, in Lost in Space (1965), which ran from 1965-1968. Even with cheap special effects and a hokey story line, the show is still popular today. In 1970 Angela had a part in Make Room for Granddaddy (1970), a sequel to the original series, but the show was soon canceled. Since that time, she has made a life outside of films.Angela Margaret Cartwright
September 9, 1952 "Virgo/Dragon" in Altrincham, Cheshire, England
Penny Robinson (1965-1968)- Actor
- Soundtrack
An eloquent character actor who would become a celebrated TV camp icon of the late 1960s, Jonathan Harris was born Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin on November 6, 1914, in the Bronx borough of New York City. The son of impoverished Russian-Jewish émigrés, his father worked in the garment industry and young Jonathan contributed to the family income by working as a box boy in a pharmacy at age 12, which inspired him enough to, after graduating from James Monroe High School, earn a pharmacy degree at Fordham University in 1936.
However, Jonathan's desire to act was quite strong at an early age and it proved overwhelming in the end, forsaking a steady pharmaceutical career for the thoroughly unsteady work in the theater. Self-trained to shake his thick Bronx accent by watching British movies and pursuing interests in Shakespeare and archaeology, Jonathan changed his surname to one much easier to pronounce. After performing in over 100 plays in stock companies nationwide, he finally made an inauspicious debut as a Polish officer in the play "Heart of a City" (1942) and also entertained World War II troops in the South Pacific. Other New York plays during this war-era decade would include "Right Next to Broadway" (1944), "A Flag Is Born" (1946), "The Madwoman of Chaillot (1948) and "The Grass Harp" (1952).
Following his introduction to live television drama in 1948, Jonathan ventured off to Hollywood. After appearing in a number of television anthologies such as "The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre", "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse", "Betty Crocker Star Matinee", "Goodyear Playhouse" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame", he made his film debut as part of a band of potential mutineers in the film Botany Bay (1952) starring doctor hero Alan Ladd and villainous captain James Mason. He wouldn't make another film for another five years, with a supporting role as Lysias in the biblical story of Simon Peter in The Big Fisherman (1959) starring Howard Keel.
However, it was television that would make keep Jonathan working and make a stronger impression. Remaining steadfast on classy anthologies dramas such as "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "Studio One in Hollywood", "Matinee Theatre", "Schlitz Playhouse", "Climax", "Colgate Theatre", "Kraft Theatre", "General Electric Theatre", as well as the role of Exton in a TV-movie version of King Richard II (1954), he began appearing on more popular television series such as Zorro (1957), Father Knows Best (1954), The Law and Mr. Jones (1960), Outlaws (1960), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962) and Bonanza (1959), Jonathan got his first taste of television success and audiences got to witness the fusty, cowardly, uppity side of Jonathan in two archetypal regular roles: as cowardly assistant Bradley Webster on the crime drama The Third Man (1959) starring Michael Rennie and as persnickety hotel manager Mr. Phillips on the short-lived sitcom The Bill Dana Show (1963) starring the Latin-speaking comic as a bellhop.
This culminated in the television regular role that would make Jonathan a cult icon, as Dr. Zachary Smith, the dastardly, effete spaceship stowaway on Lost in Space (1965). Along with his straight man robot, Harris easily stole the show week after week as he botched and mangled all the good intentions of the Robinson family to get back home to Earth. Jonathan would find himself severely typecast as a plummy villain for the remainder of his career, and was seen usually in cryptic form on such television series as The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968), Land of the Giants (1968), Get Smart (1965), Bewitched (1964), McMillan & Wife (1971), Night Gallery (1969), Love, American Style (1969), Sanford and Son (1972), Vega$ (1978), Fantasy Island (1977), etc. He did reappear on the brief sci-fi series Space Academy (1977), as Commander Isaac Gampu, leader of a space academy in the year 3732. However, this character was the polar opposite of Dr. Zachary Smith -- wise, honorable and brave.
Jonathan's crisp, eloquent voice was also used frequently with great relish in commercials and for sci-fi and animated series purposes -- The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968), Battlestar Galactica (1978), Foofur (1986), Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987), Problem Child (1993), The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (1995), Freakazoid! (1995) and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000). His voice was also used for the animated features Happily Ever After (1989), A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999).
A drama teacher and vocal coach in later years, Harris died of a blood clot to the heart on November 3, 2002, just three days before his 88th birthday. He was survived by his long-time wife (from 1938), Gertrude Bregman, and son Richard (born 1942). He was interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.Jonathan Charasuchin
November 6, 1914 "Scorpio/Tiger" in Bronx, New York - November 3, 2002 (age 87) in Encino, California (blood clot in the heart)
Dr. Zachary Smith (1965-1968)- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
In their heyday, stage and movie stars Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson reigned as two of the most outrageous comedians who ever set out to tickle America's collective funnybone. The son of Johnson's daughter, June, Bob May was born in New York in 1939 and put a (very) small foot on the first rung of the show biz ladder two years later, when he replaced a midget in the comics' show "Sons-a-Fun". May later worked with the comedy team on live TV ("Fireball Fun-for-All", "All-Star Revue", "The Colgate Comedy Hour"). A singer and dancer, May danced in some of Elvis Presley's early films and turned up in several Jerry Lewis vehicles. While applying for the job of Red Buttons' stunt double on Stagecoach (1966), May was offered the "role" of the Environmental Control Robot in 20th Century-Fox's TV series Lost in Space (1965). (On the show, May operated the Robot and Dick Tufeld provided its voice.) More recently, May, his wife and kids toured with an Olsen & Johnson-style stage show call ed "Funs-a-Bustin."Robert M. May
September 4, 1939 "Virgo/Rabbit" in New York City - January 18, 2009 (age 69) in Lancaster, California (congestive heart failure)
The Robot (1965-1968)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
The first words heard in the Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea tv series belonged to Dick Tufeld: "This is the Seaview, the most extraordinary submarine in all the seven seas". The first words heard in the Irwin Allen's Lost In Space tv series belonged to Dick Tufeld: "This is the beginning, this is the day, you are watching the unfolding of one of history's great adventures..." Tufeld was also heard at the start of several episodes of Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel: "Two American scientists are lost..."
Tufeld's totally unique energy charged deep voice put viewers in the right frame of mind for what was to come. Irwin Allen tv was about showmanship and Tufeld was a true showman. Tufeld and Irwin Allen had crossed paths long before "The Big Four" Irwin Allen tv shows of the 1960s. However, when Irwin asked Tufeld to do a "Robot voice" for Lost In Space, Irwin found it hard to explain the type of voice he wanted for the robot and Tufeld almost missed out on getting the job because he could not understand what Irwin wanted. However, it all worked out in the end.
By the 1990s, the Lost In Space fan base was big enough to keep Dick Tufeld very busy. He went around the world talking about Lost In Space, in 1996 he even went as far as Australia to talk to fans, and in 1998 he was able to do his "Robot voice" once again in the Lost In Space motion picture...oddly enough he sounded much the same as he did in the 1960s.Richard Norton Tufeld
December 11, 1926 "Sagittarius/Tiger" in Los Angeles, California - January 22, 2012 (age 85) in Studio City, Los Angeles, California (congestive heart failure)
The Robot Voice (1965-1968)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
A graduate of New York's Columbia School of Journalism, Irwin Allen was a magazine editor, the producer/director of a radio show and the owner of an advertising agency before entering film production in the 1950s. His documentary, The Sea Around Us (1953), won an Academy Award. A successful TV series producer (The Time Tunnel (1966), Lost in Space (1965)), Allen was nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" in the 1970s due to the tremendous success of his two special effects-laden epics, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974).June 12, 1916 "Gemini/Dragon" in New York City - November 2, 1991 (age 75) in Santa Monica, California (heart attack)
Creator/Writer/Producer- Director
- Writer
Don Richardson was a director and teacher of actors for over fifty years. His credits include three Broadway productions and numerous prime-time television shows, among them winners of the Emmy and Peabody awards. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Broadcasting and the Jewish Museum in New York. In California he is represented in the UCLA film and television archives. He taught actors at Barnard College, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and California, and Tel Aviv University in Israel, and had a workshop of his own. During his retirement from television he taught actors and directors at UCLA Arts Extension four semesters per year until his death. His classes sold out weeks in advance. Among some of his former students were Anne Bancroft, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Montgomery, Lois Nettleton, John Cassavetes, Zero Mostel, Don Adams and a host of others. Helen Hayes, the First Lady of the American Theatre forwarded his 1988 book on acting, Acting Without Agony, an Alternative to the Method, published by Allyn and Bacon, Inc.April 30, 1918 "Taurus/Horse" in New York - January 10, 1996 (age 77) in Los Angeles, California (heart failure)
Director- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sobey Martin was born on 27 June 1909 in Leipzig, Germany. Sobey was a director and assistant director, known for The Time Tunnel (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) and Land of the Giants (1968). Sobey died on 27 July 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.June 27, 1909 "Cancer/Rooster" in Germany - July 27, 1978 (age 69) in Los Angeles, California
Director- Director
- Art Director
- Writer
Austrian-born Nathan Juran was a professional architect before entering the film industry as an art director in 1937. He won an Academy Award for art direction on How Green Was My Valley (1941). World War II interrupted his film career, and he spent his war years with the OSS. Returning to Hollywood, he turned to directing films in the 1950s. He handled mostly low-budget westerns and sci-fi opuses, his most famous (or infamous) being Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) (which he filmed under the name "Nathan Hertz"). On the other hand, he was also responsible for the superb fantasy adventure The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). In the early 1960s, he journeyed to Europe, where he spent several years piloting adventure epics and spaghetti westerns.Naftuli Hertz Juran
September 1, 1907 "Virgo/Goat" in Gura Humora, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary [now Gura Humorului, Bukovina, Romania] - October 23, 2002 (age 95) in Palos Verdes Estates, California
Director- Director
- Actor
- Producer
An an actor, producer, director, writer, teacher and lecturer who covered all of the important mediums in one way or another during his lifetime, Ezra Stone will still be forever known for introducing quintessential late 30s and 40s teen Henry Aldrich to both radio and the stage. Stone's pitchy, cracking voice would become a familiar sound in living rooms for well over a decade.
He was born Ezra Chaim Feinstone on December 2, 1917, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The son of Solomon Feinstone, a chemist, teacher and philanthropist, and the former Rose Meadow, Stone made his debut at age 6 in a play entitled "Phosphorus and Suppressed Desires" for the YMHA players in Philadelphia. He later went on to tour with the National Junior Theatre of Washington, DC, in 1931-1932 before graduating from the Oak Lane Country Day School of Temple University in 1934.
Stone studied for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and made his New York debut playing seven roles in the musical revue "Parade" in 1935. Although the ebullient teen built up his young marquee name with such popular comedies as "Room Service," "Three Men on a Horse" and "Brother Rat," he found his pot of gold winning the stage role of Henry Aldrich in "What a Life" in 1938. More riches came his way on Broadway with the role of Dromio in "The Boys from Syracuse" and as Arthur Lee in "See My Lawyer."
Twenty years old at the time he started playing the teenage Henry on radio, Stone enjoyed a healthy 13 years (1939-1953) as the disaster-prone youth who was summoned into millions of homes to the eternal lament of his long-suffering mother: "Hen-reeee! Henry Aldrich!" -- which was invariably followed by Henry's anguished reply: "Coming Mother!" By 1941 "The Aldrich Family" was rated among the "top ten" programs alongside Jack Benny and Bob Hope's popular shows.
As for films, Stone never got it into gear. He can only be witnessed in a support role in the "B" movie Those Were the Days! (1940) as Allie Bang. He also played a cameo as himself, Sgt. Ezra Stone, in This Is the Army (1943), the feature film version of the hit Broadway play he appeared in the year before.
WWII intervened in 1942 but Stone managed to incorporate his life's passion into his military duties by directing and appearing in a number of US Army Special Services productions. On October 5, 1942, Ezra married actress/director/teacher Sara Seegar. They went on to have two children, Josef and Francine.
Following the war Stone focused on writing and directing. During TV's "Golden Age" he not only wrote sketches for the sitcom The Aldrich Family (1949), which ran for four seasons, but also for shows that starred some of TV's funniest: Danny Thomas, Milton Berle, Fred Allen and Martha Raye. At around the same time he directed a number of Broadway productions including "Me and Molly," the farcical "At War with the Army," which also featured wife Sara, and "Wake Up, Darling." In the 1960s Stone started directed TV sitcoms and adventures, making the rounds on such sets as Petticoat Junction (1963), The Munsters (1964), Lost in Space (1965) and The Flying Nun (1967).
Ezra and Sara were married for 48 years until her death in 1990. Four years later, the icon of "old-time" radio was fatally injured in a one-vehicle road accident in New Jersey at age 76.Ezra Chaim Feinstone
December 2, 1917 "Sagittarius/Snake" in New Bedford, Massachusetts - March 3, 1994 (age 76) in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (road accident)
Director- Writer
- Producer
Known to some vintage television fans as the writer/producer of some famous and not so famous TV western hours, but known mostly as the writer of 25 Lost In Space episodes.
Little is known about the private life of Packer but it would seem he was partly interested in making Lost In Space a space western rather than a science fiction series. Almost right from the word go Packer introduced guest characters who seemed like they had just walked out of a farm rather than another galaxy (note episodes: "Welcome Stranger", "Return From Outer Space", "The Space Croppers", "Blast Off Into Space" and "A Visit To A Hostile Planet"). Packer seemed to have little knowledge of science, which was obvious from his very first Lost In Space episode: "The Derelict".
He never lived to see Lost In Space turned into a massive budget 1990s motion picture, but if Packer wrote it, he probably would have ended it with "The Space Western Is Just Beginning" flashed across the screen. Rest In peace Peter Packer.January 22, 1906 "Aquarius/Horse" in London, England - February 13, 1987 (age 81) in Los Angeles, California
Writer- Barney Slater was born on 21 January 1923 in Gastonia, North Carolina, USA. He was a writer, known for The Tin Star (1957), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Lost in Space (1965). He died on 29 November 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.January 21, 1923 "Aquarius/Pig" in Gastonia, North Carolina - November 29, 1978 (age 55) in Los Angeles, California (hit-and-run accident)
Writer - Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Jackson Gillis was the middle son of three boys born to Ridgway M. Gillis (a civil engineer for the Washington State Highway Department) and Marjorie Lyman. In the late 1920s the Gillis family moved to California, settling first in Fresno then in Sacramento, where he grew up before attending and graduating from Stanford University. In July 1941 he married stage actress Patricia Cassidy.
Assigned as intelligence officer with the 184th Infantry Regiment, Gillis served in the Pacific during WWII; after leaving the Army as a lieutenant colonel at the end of the war, he returned to writing for radio, most prominently "Let George Do It." From there he moved into television, writing many episodes of such series as Perry Mason (1957) (for which he was also associate producer), Lassie (1954), Racket Squad (1950) and The Mickey Mouse Club (1955). He was a regular writer on the "Columbo" series starring Peter Falk and was nominated for an Emmy for one of scripts for that series.
After more than 40 years of writing television scripts, Jackson Gillis retired from the business in 1996 and he and his wife moved to a small town in Idaho.Jackson Clark Gillis
August 21, 1916 "Leo/Dragon" in Kalama, Washington - August 19, 2010 (age 93) in Moscow, Idaho (pneumonia)
Writer- Carey Wilber was born on 26 June 1916 in Buffalo, New York, USA. Carey was a writer, known for Rawhide (1959), Star Trek (1966) and The Secret Files of Captain Video (1953). Carey died on 2 May 1998 in Seattle, Washington, USA.June 26, 1916 "Cancer/Dragon" in Buffalo, New York - May 2, 1998 (age 81) in Seattle, Washington (cancer)
Writer - Writer
- Actor
Shimon Wincelberg was born on 26 September 1924 in Kiel, Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Law & Order (1990), Mannix (1967) and Kraft Theatre (1947). He died on 29 September 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA.September 26, 1924 "Libra/Rat" in Kiel, Germany - September 29, 2004 (age 80) in Los Angeles, California
Writer