Who Is Still Alive From ‘Lost in Space’? Plus, What Star Was Behind the Novelty Song “Fish Heads”
Lost in Space premiered on Sept. 18, 1965, and ended its run on March 6, 1968, so the Jupiter 2’s adventures are long over, and Will Robinson hasn’t been in danger for more than half a century (unless, of course, you count the 1998 film or the 2018 Netflix series).
Inspired by the Johann David Wyss novel The Swiss Family Robinson and created by Hollywood “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allen, the CBS series followed a new Robinson family, a spacefaring clan leaving Earth to find other habitable planets. But a saboteur on board causes the Jupiter 2 and its passengers, human or robotic, to veer off course with no evident way home.
Now, decades after the show’s cancellation, which Lost in Space cast members are still with us? Read on…
June Lockhart (99)
20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection; Araya Diaz/Getty Images
Aside from playing biochemist Maureen Robinson, Lockhart is also known for playing another TV mom, Ruth Martin on Lassie. After her Lost in Space days, Lockhart starred in Petticoat Junction, playing Dr. Janet Craig. Then came a lengthy succession of TV guest spots, including a voice cameo in Netflix’s Lost in Space remake in 2021. If that’s not enough, this June she will be 100!
In 2013, Lockhart received NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for her impact on space exploration. “This is extraordinary,” she said at the time, per the Santa Monica Daily Press. “It’s astonishing that [the TV show] inspired so many people, but it’s lovely to know that.”
Marta Kristen (80)
20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection; Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Netflix
After growing up in an orphanage in Norway, Kristen lucked out when she was cast as eldest child Judy Robinson in Lost in Space. “I would think to myself, ‘Here I am. … I’m going to the set at 20th Century Fox. I cannot believe my good fortune,’” she told Closer Weekly in 2018. “Then I would get there and would be treated so well. It really was a dream.”
Following Lost in Space, Kristen had small parts in TV shows like Mannix, Remington Steele, Fame, Trapper John, M.D., and Murphy Brown. She still acts on screen occasionally and connects with fans at conventions.
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Angela Cartwright (72)
20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection; Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TNT
After starring in The Danny Thomas Show and playing Brigitta von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Cartwright landed the role of middle child Penny Robinson on Lost in Space. Afterward, she reunited with her old costars in the Danny Thomas Show sequel series Make Room for Granddaddy.
These days, Cartwright is a visual artist and photographer. She and costar Bill Mumy collaborated on the 2015 pictorial memoir Lost (and Found) in Space as well as the 2018 fantasy adventure novel On Purpose.
Bill Mumy (71)
20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection; Rich Fury/Getty Images for Netflix
The actor behind child prodigy Will Robinson, John and Maureen’s youngest child, went on to star in another beloved sci-fi series, playing Lennier in all five seasons of Babylon 5. The actor still pops up on screen sporadically — having joined Lockhart and Cartwright in Netflix’s Lost in Space remake, for example — and he’s a prolific musician. Fun fact, he was part of the short-lived comedy duo act Barnes & Barnes, most famous for the catchy 1978 novelty track Fish Heads. He recently released his solo album Wonder World, the physical version of which includes a booklet Cartwright designed. He also likes to connect with his fans at conventions and will be at the upcoming Hollywood Show in Burbank this June.
Mumy told Next Avenue in 2023 that music is his “adult passion,” but he expressed gratitude for Lost in Space, saying the character of Will had stayed with him. And he quipped, “If I had thought Lost in Space would still be running 50 years later, I would’ve renegotiated my residuals.”
What happened to the other cast members?
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Guy Williams, who starred as the title character in TV’s Zorro before playing Lost in Space astrophysicist Dr. John Robinson, died of a brain aneurysm in 1989 at age 65.
Mark Goddard, a.k.a. Major Don West, the show’s Jupiter 2 pilot, later had roles on the daytime dramas One Life to Live and General Hospital. He died of pulmonary fibrosis at age 87 in 2023.
Jonathan Harris, Lost in Space’s villainous Dr. Zachary Smith, became a voice actor later in life, with parts in the films A Bug’s Life and Toy Story 2. He died of a blood clot in 2002 at age 87.
Bob May, the actor and stuntman inside the Robot costume, only made one other screen appearance after Lost in Space, appearing in the 1980 Jerry Lewis comedy Hardly Working. He died of congestive heart failure at age 69 in 2014.
Dick Tufeld, the voice of the Robot and an announcer for the radio show Space Patrol and Lost in Space costar Guy Williams’ TV show Zorro, died of congestive heart failure in 2012 at age 85.
Lost in Space currently airs on MeTV and is available to stream on Hulu.
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March 2020
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