Former “Lost In Space” star opens up about his work on TV.
By Sandy Stert Benjamin, ReMIND Magazine
It was six days into the new year, and Bill Mumy was pumped. The holidays were over, and he was eager to see what 2020 had in store. On the agenda this particular Monday was an interview with ReMIND magazine. As he settled back into a comfy chair, Mumy reminisced about his early work in television and the coincidental casting that ultimately followed.
“As a kid, I had an overwhelming urge to be on TV,” he says, “so my mom wisely suggested that we should see how I felt on the set of a real show.” The gamble paid off. At age 4, Mumy appeared for two weeks on Romper Room, and says there was no turning back.
Emboldened by his “work” on the popular children’s show, Mumy’s resumé was about to build. But first, he would have to play the part of a real-life patient.
Inspired by superheroes, Mumy was pretending to be one when he jumped off a bed and broke his leg. Laid up in a cast for two months, he planted himself in front of the TV. Favoring Zorro (portrayed, ironically, by Guy Williams, his future TV dad on Lost in Space), Mumy points out, “If it hadn’t been for Guy, I wouldn’t have broken my leg!”
Fast forward to 1965. As a child star, he had been getting steady work, but Mumy was now on the brink of becoming a household name: He was offered the role of Will Robinson on a new science-fiction series about a family of space colonists, and it was too good to pass up.
“I loved Lost in Space,” he says, “and Will was a superhero. He was exactly the reason why I wanted to get into television in the first place.”
The show ran for three seasons and produced 83 episodes, which can still be enjoyed on MeTV. And while Mumy admits that he doesn’t follow the reruns, he was pleased to be a part of the team that assembled the Blu-ray package that features the entire series.
Of course, it’s not just all nostalgia. In 2018, viewers were thrilled to see a grownup Mumy embody the role of Dr. Zachary Smith (a.k.a. “the real Dr. Smith”) on the popular Netflix reboot. As for the current show, the actor is a fan. “The tone is perfect,” he says. “It harkens back to the original concept that [creator/writer] Irwin Allen had for the series.”
Interestingly, even though a number of Mumy’s onscreen credits tie in with space (Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and a still-in-production Space Command), Mumy doesn’t feel that he’d be an enthusiastic space traveler himself. “I don’t even like to fly to San Francisco!” says the L.A.-based actor.
Which is probably just as well, because it would take Mumy away from all of his projects on Earth. When he’s not in front of the camera, he is the ultimate multi-hyphenate: a writer, producer, voice-over artist, radio host, singer, musician and composer, who’s toured with the likes of Devo, America and Shaun Cassidy. He is also half of the novelty rock duo Barnes & Barnes with Robert Haimer. Friends since they were 12 and still performing “when we feel like it,” the two are noted for their quirky 1978 song and video “Fish Heads” — an “odoriferous event,” says Mumy, recalling how the fish they purchased at a Santa Monica market stunk to high heaven as the multi-day shoot wore on.
As our interview drew to a close (Mumy had to babysit his toddler granddaughter), the 66-year-old reflected on his life. “It’s moving at turbo speed, but I’m not complaining.”
As Anthony Fremont (one of his characters on The Twilight Zone) might say, “It’s good, it’s real good!”
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