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40-484: The program starred veteran actor Jonathan Harris , best known as Dr. Zachary Smith of Lost in Space ; co-starring were Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin , Ric Carrott , Maggie Cooper, Brian Tochi , Ty Henderson, and Eric Greene. The program featured a pint-sized robot called "Peepo", a radio-controlled machine voiced by Erika Scheimer talking through a pitch-shifter with regenerative delay . Ferdin and Tochi had been among

80-546: A 1996 appearance at Disney World . On June 14, 1995, Harris and other cast members appeared in The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen , a television tribute to Irwin Allen , the creator of Lost in Space , who had died in 1991. Harris refused to make a cameo appearance in the 1990s re-imagined film version of Lost in Space (1998), unlike many of his co-stars in the original series. He announced: "I've never played

120-492: A bit part in my life and I'm not going to start now!" However, he did make promotional appearances for the film: In late 2002, Harris and the rest of the surviving cast of the television series were preparing to film an NBC two-hour film titled Lost in Space: The Journey Home ; however, the project was unable to proceed after Harris' death. After he had been in a hospital for a back injury, Harris died of

160-415: A blood clot on November 3, 2002, three days before his 88th birthday. As a tribute to Harris, writer/director John Wardlaw wrote an additional scene for the film The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas , which included Harris's final performance before his death. Wardlaw asked Lost in Space co-stars Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright , and Marta Kristen to contribute their voices to the film. Wardlaw described how

200-479: A character whose distinctive mannerisms and catchphrases would soon carry over into his Maxwell Smart role on Get Smart . In similar fashion, several of Harris's catchphrases from the series, such as "Oh, the pain!", along with the character's mannerisms and delivery, became part of the Dr. Zachary Smith character on Lost in Space . Harris played a similarly pompous diplomat on Get Smart in 1970. His female assistant

240-579: A co-starring role opposite Michael Rennie in The Third Man , from 1959 to 1965. He played Bradford Webster, an eccentric, cowardly assistant. Half the episodes were shot in London, England; the rest were filmed in Hollywood. Harris appeared in two 1961 episodes of The Twilight Zone , including a heroic role in "The Silence", in which he ended up defending a young man challenged to be silent for

280-476: A long career history of playing character roles may be difficult for audiences to recognize as being the same actor. In contrast to leading actors , they are generally seen as less glamorous. While a leading actor often has the physical attractiveness considered necessary to play the love interest , a character actor typically does not. In fact, some character actors are known for their unusual looks. For example, Chicago character actor William Schutz's face

320-787: A particular part or in a certain genre, such that the actor becomes so strongly identified with a particular type of role that casting directors and theatrical agents steer the actor to similar roles. Some character actors are known as "chameleons", able to play roles that vary wildly, such as Gary Oldman and Christian Bale . Many character actors tend to play the same type of role throughout their careers, like Harvey Keitel as tough, determined characters; Christopher Lloyd as eccentrics; Claude Rains as sophisticated, sometimes morally ambiguous men; Abe Vigoda as aging criminals; Fairuza Balk as moody goth girls; Doug Jones as non-human creatures; and Forest Whitaker as composed characters with underlying volatility. Ed Lauter usually portrayed

360-607: A repertory company at the Millpond Playhouse on Long Island . He was hired by the director, Richard Brooks , to appear in a series of 26 plays the company performed in the summer of 1940. In 1942, Harris won the leading role of a Polish officer in the Broadway play The Heart of a City , adopting a Polish accent. In 1946, he starred in A Flag Is Born , opposite Quentin Reynolds and Marlon Brando . Harris

400-417: A six-story tenement, and his mother often took in boarders to make ends meet, giving them Jonathan's room and bed and relegating him to sleep on the dining room chairs. By age 12 he was working in a pharmacy as a stockboy. While there was little money for luxuries, Jonathan's father made an effort to expand his son's cultural horizons with occasional trips to see Yiddish theatre and by listening to opera on

440-482: A variety of characters in their career, often referred to as a "chameleon", or may be known for playing the same type of roles. Character actor roles are more substantial than bit parts or non-speaking extras . The term is used primarily to describe television and film actors, as opposed to theater actors. An early use of the term was in the 1883 edition of The Stage , which defined a character actor as "one who portrays individualities and eccentricities". Actors with

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480-480: A whole year at a prestigious gentleman's club. Harris also portrayed Charles Dickens in a 1963 episode of Bonanza . From 1963 to 1965, Harris co-starred in the sitcom The Bill Dana Show . He played Mr. Phillips, the pompous manager of a posh hotel who is constantly at odds with his bumbling Bolivian bellhop, the Bill Dana character José Jiménez . Don Adams rounded out the cast as an inept house detective,

520-411: A year-long standoff with his father, who disagreed with the change. Harris earned a degree in pharmacology from Fordham University , from which he graduated in 1936. Harris was married to his high school sweetheart, Gertrude Bregman, from 1938 until his death. They had one child, Richard, born 1942. Acting was Harris's first love. In 1939, at age 24, he prepared a fake résumé and tried out for

560-461: Is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric or interesting characters in supporting roles , rather than leading ones. The term is somewhat abstract and open to interpretation. While all actors play "characters", the term character actor is often applied to an actor who frequently plays a distinctive and important supporting role. In another sense, a character actor may also be one who specializes in minor roles. A character actor may play

600-606: The 2014 documentary That Guy Dick Miller ; with a prime example of a "that guy" actor being John Carroll Lynch . Over the course of an acting career, an actor can sometimes shift between leading roles and supporting roles. Some leading actors, as they get older, find that access to leading roles is limited by their age. Sometimes character actors have developed careers based on specific talents needed in genre films, such as dancing, horsemanship, acrobatics, swimming ability, or boxing. Many up-and-coming actors find themselves typecast in character roles due to an early success with

640-638: The Bulmanian Ambassador in the Get Smart episode "How Green Was My Valet". Harris was also a co-star, alongside Charles Nelson Reilly , in the series Uncle Croc's Block , in which Harris and Reilly portrayed malcontents producing a children's television show. Harris played the director and Reilly the titular host, Uncle Croc. In the cartoon Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987), he played lackey and sycophant Mortdred to

680-556: The PAL video format, which is the same format as the currently-existing masters, so there is a small amount of additional picture area not present on the NTSC conversions released by BCI Eclipse. In 1978, a spin-off of Space Academy , Jason of Star Command , debuted. Initially a serialized segment of Tarzan and the Super 7 , it starred Craig Littler and James Doohan , with Sid Haig as

720-493: The Space Academy, located on an asteroid , brought together the best of young minds, including several with special skills and abilities, to explore the mysteries of space. As with much of children's television in the 1970s, lessons and morals were taught in each episode. These included wide-ranging concepts, such as that the superpowers possessed by some academy students were not a cure-all for problems, and that even

760-421: The animated Superman series. In multiple episodes of the 1995–1997 cartoon series Freakazoid! , Harris reprised the cowardly Smith character and dialogue under the name "Professor Jones," uttering Smith's catchphrase "Oh, the pain!" Emphasizing the target of the parody, numerous characters would ask him, "Weren't you on a TV show with a robot?" In 2001, a year prior to his death, he recorded voice work for

800-416: The animated theatrical short The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas . The film, Harris's last work, was released posthumously in 2009. In 1990, Harris reunited with the cast of Lost in Space in a filmed celebration of the 25th anniversary of the series' debut, at an event attended by more than 30,000 fans. Harris made a number of other convention appearances with other cast members of Lost in Space , including

840-446: The character: "And we'd start working on a scene together, and he'd have a line, and then in the script I'd have my reply, and he'd say, 'No, no, no, dear boy. No, no, no. Before you say that, The Robot will say this, this, this, this, this, this, and this, and then, you'll deliver your line.' He truly, truly single-handedly created the character of Dr. Zachary Smith that we know — this man we love to hate, coward who would cower behind

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880-537: The child actors who played a group of children orphaned by an evil being masquerading as an angel in the 1968 Star Trek episode And the Children Shall Lead . Guest stars included Lawrence "Larry" Dobkin ; Dena Dietrich ("Mother Nature" in the Chiffon margarine TV commercials of the 1960s and 70s); George DiCenzo ; Dallas McKennon ; and Howard Morris . Established in the "star year" 3732,

920-469: The dining room radio. Young Jonathan was enthralled. Although he could seldom afford tickets to them, Broadway plays were also an early interest. He detested his Bronx accent and by high school cultivated an English one in its place, watching British B-movies at the arts theater. He also developed interests in archaeology, Latin, romantic poetry and Shakespeare . Jonathan legally changed his name from "Charasuchin" to "Harris" before entering college after

960-547: The earlier Filmation series Ark II . One term of jargon unique to the program was "ORACO" ("Orders Received And Carried Out"), used when orders were acknowledged by academy personnel. BCI Eclipse LLC (under its Ink & Paint classic animation entertainment brand) (under license from Entertainment Rights ), released Space Academy: The Complete Series as a 4-disc Region 1 DVD box set on January 16, 2007. The collection presented episodes uncut, remastered and in order of their original airdates, and included special features about

1000-399: The figures were special " adventure outfits ", sold separately. Jonathan Harris Jonathan Harris (born Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin ; November 6, 1914 – November 3, 2002) was an American character actor whose career included more than 500 television and film appearances, as well as voiceovers . Two of his best-known roles were as the prudent accountant Bradford Webster in

1040-409: The little boy, 'Oh, the pain! Save me, William!' That's all him!" When the series was renewed for its third and final season, it remained focused on Harris' character, Dr. Smith. While the series was still solidly placed in the middle of the ratings pack, the writers appeared to run out of fresh ideas, and the show was unexpectedly canceled in 1968 after 83 episodes, despite protests from its fans. In

1080-720: The main villain Darkstorm. Harris also provided the voice of the Cylon character Lucifer, an antagonist on the original ABC version of Battlestar Galactica (1978). Harris spent much of his later career working as a voice actor, and during it he was heard on television commercials as well as on cartoons such as Channel Umptee-3 , The Banana Splits , My Favorite Martian , Rainbow Brite , Darkwing Duck , Happily Ever After , Problem Child , Spider-Man , A Bug's Life , Buzz Lightyear of Star Command , and Toy Story 2 . He also did voiceover work in an episode of

1120-474: The making of the show. Savor Ediciones, S.A. released Space Academy: La Serie Completa as a 3-disc Region 2 DVD box set on October 28, 2009. Unlike the BCI set, this release only contains the episodes, no bonus features. Being a Region 2 release for Spain, the soundtrack is the dubbed Spanish version. Unfortunately, the original English soundtrack was not included, even as a secondary option. The discs are encoded in

1160-600: The mid-1970s, Harris starred in live-action roles in two Saturday morning children's series, Space Academy and Uncle Croc's Block , and was a well-known TV spokesman for the International House of Pancakes . He made several cameo and guest appearances during this period, including episodes of Bewitched and Sanford and Son . In a 1971 episode of Night Gallery , titled "Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay", Harris played Professor Nicholas Porteus, an expert on witchcraft. His last series guest-starring role

1200-416: The old and wise could make mistakes. As the students encountered members of extraterrestrial races, even mutated descendants of Earth colonists in space, they came to further develop their wisdom and understanding of diversity throughout the universe. The spaceships commonly seen in the series were called "Seekers" and were used much like a spacebound van or bus . The Seeker's nose was a re-used prop from

1240-593: The television version of The Third Man and the fussy villain Dr. Zachary Smith of the 1960s science-fiction series Lost in Space . Near the end of his career, he provided voices for the animated features A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 . The second of three children, Harris was born on November 6, 1914, in the Bronx , New York City, to Sam and Jennie Charasuchin, Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father worked in Manhattan 's Garment District . The family lived in

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1280-412: The three actors reunited in the recording studio on June 14, 2006: "This was the first time they had all been together in something unrelated to Lost in Space and it was a blast. They listened to what Harris had recorded and there were laughs and some tears." Nearly five years later, Harris' wife died of natural causes, at age 93, on August 28, 2007. Character actor A character actor

1320-574: The villain. Star Command was described as a special section of the Space Academy; the show used the same sets, costumes and special effects as the parent program. In 1977, Aviva Toy Company manufactured and F.W. Woolworth distributed a set of four eight-and-a-half inch action figures based on Space Academy characters. The dolls in this set included Issac [sic] Gampu (described as "Instructor in 'Space Academy'"), Tee Gar Soom ("Almost Super Human Strength"), Chris Gentry ("Member of Space Academy") and Loki ("Everybody's Mascot"). Also available for

1360-607: Was a popular character actor for 30 years on television, making his first guest appearance on the episode "His Name Is Jason" on The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre in 1949. The role led to other roles in such series as: The Web , Lights Out , Goodyear Television Playhouse , two episodes of Hallmark Hall of Fame , Armstrong Circle Theatre , three episodes of Studio One , Telephone Time , Schlitz Playhouse of Stars , Climax! , Outlaws , The Twilight Zone , Bonanza , The Rogues , The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , and Zorro , among many others. Harris landed

1400-400: Was actually implied that this villainous character that sabotaged the mission and ended up with us was going to be killed off after a while. Jonathan played him as written, which was this really dark, straight-ahead villain." The series was successful upon its debut and, midway through the first season, Harris began to rewrite his own dialogue to add more comedy because he felt that his strength

1440-537: Was considered something of a cult icon for the role of Dr. Smith, Harris became typecast as a fey and sometimes campy villain. For example, Irwin Allen cast Harris as a villainous "Pied Piper" in an episode of Land of the Giants . Approached by Allen a second time, to star in a children's series, Jumbalina and the Teeners , Harris turned it down. In 1970, Harris played the role of another not-so-likeable villain,

1480-549: Was disfigured in a car accident when he was five years old, but his appearance after reconstructive surgery helped him to be distinctive to theater audiences. Generally, the names of character actors are not featured prominently in movie and television advertising on the marquee , since a character actor's name is not expected to attract film audiences. Some character actors have been described as instantly recognizable despite their names being little known. They are colloquially referred to as "that guy", or "that guy" actors, as in

1520-521: Was in portraying a comic villain. Due to Harris's popularity on the show, Irwin Allen approved his changes and gave him carte blanche as a writer. Harris subsequently stole the show, mainly via a seemingly never-ending series of alliterative insults directed toward The Robot, which soon worked their way into popular culture. Dr. Smith's best-known tropes included spitefully calling The Robot epithets such as "bubble-headed booby" and "clamoring clod". According to Bill Mumy, Harris moved quickly to develop

1560-604: Was named Zachary. Harris also guest-starred on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir . Harris was cast over two other actors for the role of Dr. Zachary Smith, the evil and conniving enemy agent on Lost in Space . The character did not appear in the original 1965 pilot episode for CBS , nor did The Robot . The series was already in production when Harris joined the cast, and starring/co-starring billing had already been contractually assigned. Harris successfully negotiated to receive "Special Guest Star" billing on every episode. Bill Mumy said of Harris' role in his first episode: "It

1600-464: Was on an episode of Fantasy Island . He also starred as the character Fagan in the first episode of the science fiction series Ark II . Harris taught drama, and was Chuck Norris 's vocal coach for many years. Norris credited Harris for teaching him "how to speak" by sticking his fingers in Norris's mouth, adding that Harris was the only person in the world he would allow to do that. Although he

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