Mark Goddard (born Charles Harvey Goddard; July 24, 1936) is an American actor who has starred in a number of
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
programs. He is probably best known for portraying Major Don West in the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
series ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'' (1965–1968). He also played Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard, in '' The Detectives'', starring Robert Taylor.
Early life
Charles Harvey Goddard was born in
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
, the youngest of five children, and grew up in Scituate. He was raised Catholic.
He led both his high school baseball and basketball teams to the state championship finals. Goddard dreamed of becoming a basketball player, but eventually turned to acting. He originally attended Holy Cross College after high school, but he then transferred and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. After two years, he moved to Los Angeles.
Career
In 1959, after just three weeks in Hollywood, he landed a role in the CBS
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was insp ...
series ''
Johnny Ringo
John Peters Ringo (May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882), known as Johnny Ringo, was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory. He took part in the Mason County ...
'', having played the character of Cully, the deputy to
Don Durant
Don Durant (born Donald Allison Durae; November 20, 1932 – March 15, 2005) was an American actor and singer, best known for his role as the gunslinger-turned-sheriff in the CBS Western series ''Johnny Ringo'', which ran on Thursdays from Octobe ...
's character of Ringo. At this time, he changed his name to Mark Goddard at the suggestion of his friend and mentor
Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...
of ''
The Rifleman
''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...
''. Goddard appeared as Norman Tabor in the 1960 episode "Surprise Party" of the CBS
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
''
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
''The DuPont Show with June Allyson'' (also known as ''The June Allyson Show'') is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959, to April 3, 1961, with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961.
The series was ...
''. He was cast as Sheldon Hollingsworth in the 1960 episode "To See the Elephant" of the ABC Western series '' The Rebel'', starring Nick Adams. He played Tod Rowland in the 1960 episode "The Mormons" on ''
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962.
Format
Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star F ...
''.
'' The Detectives'', another production of Four Star Television, was a hit series which ran on ABC and NBC from 1958 to 1961;
Goddard was signed for a role lasting three years (64 episodes). In 1963, Goddard appeared as Roy Mooney on the ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
'' episode "The Case of the Potted Planter". In 1964 Goddard appeared as Richard on '' The Virginian'' in the episode titled "The Secret of Brynmar Hall." That same year he guest starred as a wild killer named “Boyd” in the episode “Journey For Three” on the TV Western series ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' (S9E36).
In 1965, he played Lester Crawford in another ''Perry Mason'', "The Case of the Frustrated Folk Singer". He also appeared with
Keir Dullea
Keir Atwood Dullea (; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and its 1984 sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact''. His other film roles include '' David and Lisa ...
as sparring college roommates in an episode of ABC's drama series '' Channing'', costarring
Jason Evers
Jason Evers (born Herbert Everberg or as Herbert Everin; January 2, 1922 – March 13, 2005) was an American actor. He was the star of the 1963 ABC television drama '' Channing''.
Early life
Evers was born either as Herbert Everberg or Herbert ...
and Henry Jones. He was featured in the 1965 film ''
A Rage to Live
''A Rage to Live'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Suzanne Pleshette as a woman whose passions wreak havoc on her life. The screenplay by John T. Kelley is based on the 1949 novel of the same name by John O' ...
'', starring
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American theatre, film, television, and voice actress. Pleshette started her career in the theatre and began appearing in films in the late 1950s and later appeared in prominent ...
. From 1964 to 1965, Goddard starred in '' Many Happy Returns,'' in which he portrayed Bob Randall, the young husband of Joan Randall, played by
Elinor Donahue
Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''.
Early ...
.
''Lost in Space''
Goddard's next role was Major Don West on ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'' (1965–1968). A blossoming romance initially existed between West and Judy, the elder daughter of the Robinson family, but by the middle of the second season, West maintained an adversarial relationship with the hapless, sociopathic Dr. Zachary Smith.
On October 16, 1997, Goddard and the rest of the surviving cast appeared on the inside cover of ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' to promote the feature film of ''Lost in Space''. Goddard, along with Harris and the rest of his cast, were planning in 2002 for the movie ''Lost in Space: The Journey Home'' to air on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
, which never came to fruition.
Later acting career
Goddard guest-starred on three ABC series, '' The Fugitive'', ''
The Mod Squad
''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as ...
'', and ''
The Fall Guy
''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonli ...
'' and for a while, moonlighted as a Hollywood agent. In 1976, he starred as politician Edward Fleming in the movie '' Blue Sunshine''. In 1970, Goddard co-starred with
Kent McCord
Kent Franklin McWhirter (born September 26, 1942), known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series ''Adam-12.''
Life and career
McCord was born Kent Franklin ...
and
Martin Milner
Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: ''Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and ''Adam-12'', which ai ...
in an episode of ''
Adam-12
''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the stre ...
'', in which he plays a friend of Pete Malloy (Milner), who is killed in the line of duty. The episode was entitled "
Elegy for a Pig
This is a list of episodes for the 1968–1975 television series '' Adam-12''. The first season was released on DVD in 2005 by Universal Home Entertainment, while all remaining seasons were released by Shout! Factory.''Barnaby Jones.''
Goddard played a supporting role as an attorney in a first-season episode of NBC's '' Quincy M.E.''.
In 1978, Goddard starred with
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...
on Broadway in the musical '' The Act''.
In 1979, Goddard was in the disco movie ''
Roller Boogie
''Roller Boogie'' is a 1979 American romantic musical drama film starring Linda Blair and Jim Bray, a former competitive artistic skater from California. The film also stars Beverly Garland, Mark Goddard and Kimberly Beck, and is directed by M ...
'' featuring
Linda Blair
Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The film ...
One Life to Live
''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...
'' and Lt. Paul Reed on ''The Doctors''. Later, he starred as Derek Barrington on ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
''. He made a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
in the reboot film ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'' (
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
) as the general in charge of the Jupiter Mission and superior officer to his former character Major Don West.
Personal life
Goddard finished college 30 years after beginning his studies and received his
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
from
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU h ...
. From 1991 through at least 2009, he served as a
special education
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
teacher at the F.L. Chamberlain School in
Middleboro, Massachusetts
Middleborough (frequently written as Middleboro) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,245 at the 2020 census.
History
The town was first settled by Europeans in 1661 as Nemasket, later changed to M ...
, where he taught an acting class. In 2009, he released an autobiographical memoir ''To Space and Back''. While at Bridgewater State College, he met his third wife, English professor Evelyn Pezzulich. The couple has one child, John. His second wife, actress
Susan Anspach
Susan Florence Anspach (; November 23, 1942 – April 2, 2018) was an American stage, film and television actress, who was best known for her roles in films during the 1970s and 1980s such as ''Five Easy Pieces'' (1970), '' Play It Again, Sa ...
, brought two children to their marriage. Goddard's first marriage was to Marcia Rogers in 1960 lasting until their divorce in 1968, and the couple had two children, Melissa and Michael.