Updated: October 15, 2023

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. Mark’s real name was Charles Harvey. Mine is Charles William. We called each other by those birth names often. We also called each other “Captain Panther” and “Fox” based on the crude childhood comic books I wrote and drew in my spare time while filming Lost in Space. He and I had a lot of great memorable times together during the three years of filming the series. We got into some pretty goofy trouble. 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.

Mark was a sports nut. He passionately followed his Boston teams. He was a die hard Celtics fan. I’m a die hard Lakers fan. We teased each other about that classic rivalry and we both had great respect for many of the players on the teams we rooted against. He was ridiculously handsome and eternally boyish. Mark was very funny and spontaneous. He enjoyed having a good time. My deepest condolences and love to Mark's amazing and strong wife Evelyn and his wonderful children, Melissa, ( Missy ), Michael, Caleb and John. 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. There's a part of me that believes he's in a better place now. A much better place.

Bill Mumy