Actor Mark Goddard, well remembered for his role as Major Don West on the 1960s TV series “Lost in Space,” has passed away. He was 87.
Mark Goddard Cause Of Death
The actor who played Will Robinson on “Lost in Space,” Bill Mumy, took to Facebook to pay respect to his “beloved friend and brother” of 59 years. Mumy claims he last spoke to Goddard on the latter’s birthday in July, after which he became aware that they were unlikely to cross paths again.
Mark Goddard passed away on October 10 from pulmonary fibrosis, according to a Facebook post by his wife, Evelyn Pezzulich.
“We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then the doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.”
“Mark was a truly fine actor. Naturally gifted as well as trained. I know he sometimes felt constricted by the campy frame that LIS constrained him within, but he also embraced and loved it,” Mumy wrote. “There’s a part of me that envisions him having a martini in Heaven right now with Jonathan Harris, Kevin Burns, Guy Williams and other comrades who left this world of woe before him.”
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Mark Goddard Career
In the television series Lost in Space, which followed the exploits of the Robinson family, a talking robot, and a wicked stowaway named Dr. Smith, Goddard portrayed the volatile Don West for three seasons, from 1965 to 1968. The Jupiter 2 veered off course on the way to a colony planet in the Alpha Centauri system, leaving the crew stranded.
Mark Goddard, Actor on ‘Lost in Space,’ Dies at 87
Mark was a great foil for Dr. Smith:
“Smith, where’s that plutonium?!”
“I gambled it away!”
Safe travels. https://t.co/yEPaEsyqJi
— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) October 14, 2023
Producer Irwin Allen, known for films like The Towering Inferno, developed the show that popularized the term “danger, Will Robinson.” Despite the show’s eventual cult status, Goddard was hesitant to join the cast.
“I didn’t want to do it,” he said in 1990. “Now, the reason I didn’t want to do the series at first is because I had never done science fiction and had no idea what it was going to be like.”
Goddard was a busy actor in the 1960s, making appearances in films like The Monkey’s Uncle and A Rage to Live. After the cancellation of Lost in Space, he began making regular appearances on shows like Mod Squad and The Streets of San Francisco. He also did work for daytime dramas, including General Hospital and One Life to Live. The horror film Blue Sunshine, in which he starred, was released in 1977.
“R.I.P. to Mark Goddard. A truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years. I knew this was coming for the past few months. Shortly after a great phone chat he and I had on his 87th birthday in late July, I became aware that I would most likely never see or speak with him again. The last words we exchanged were ‘I love you,” wrote his Lost in Space co-star Bill Mumy on Facebook.
Goddard continued to make cameos in films and TV shows even as his career declined. He had a small role in the 1998 film adaptation of Lost in Space. His autobiography, titled “To Space and Back,” came out in 2009. Goddard had reached the age of 55 when he decided to pivot.
After completing his graduate studies in education at Massachusetts Bridgewater State University, he began working as a special education instructor. Susan Anspach, an actress, was Goddard’s second wife out of three.
