Mark Goddard, an actor best known for playing Major Don West in the 1960s television show 鈥淟ost in Space,鈥� has died. He was 87.
He died Tuesday in Hingham, Massachusetts, of pulmonary fibrosis, his son told John The New York Times.
Bill Mumy, who played Will Robinson on 鈥淟ost In Space,鈥� wrote a tribute to his 鈥渂eloved friend and brother鈥� for 59 years on Facebook. Mumy said he spoke to Goddard on his birthday in July and realized he鈥檇 likely never see or speak to him again.
鈥淢ark 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,鈥� Mumy wrote. 鈥淭here鈥檚 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.鈥�
In the show, which ran from 1965 to 1968 on CBS, Goddard鈥檚 character was the pilot of the Jupiter 2 carrying the Robinson family on a mission to colonize space. He wote a memoir in 2008 memoir called 鈥淭o Space and Back."
Goddard was born on July 24, 1936, Charles Harvey Goddard in Lowell, Massachusetts. He left college in his junior year, in 1958, to pursue acting, putting himself through the American Academy of Dramatic Arts by working evenings at Woolworths.
When he made it to Hollywood, he appeared on an episode of 鈥淭he Rifleman鈥� and in a Dick Powell-directed television movie 鈥淲oman on the Run,鈥� starring Joan Crawford. He also had roles on 鈥淛ohnny Ringo,鈥� 鈥淭he Detectives鈥� and appeared in 鈥淭he Beverly Hillbillies鈥� and 鈥淧erry Mason.鈥�
He would go on to make a cameo in the 1998 reboot of 鈥淟ost In Space,鈥� in which Matt LeBlanc played the role he originated.
Later in life he鈥檇 go back to graduate from college and earn a master鈥檚 degree in education, serving as a special education teacher in Massachusetts for two decades.
Goddard is survived by his wife Evelyn Pezzulich and children.
The Associated Press
