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People of Note - Obituaries
GenealogyBuff.com - Jonathan Harris, Actor - Lost in Space
Posted By: GenealogyBuff.com
Date: Sunday, 4 September 2016, at 4:46 p.m.
System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Jonathan Harris, Actor - Lost in Space
November 6, 1914 - November 03, 2002
As Dr. Smith - Lost in Space
(born Jonathan Charasuchin)
At the age of 87 years, Jonathan Harris best known as Dr. Zachary Smith on the 1960's sci-fi show Lost in Space died Sunday from a blood clot in his heart while receiving therapy at an Encino- area hospital for a chronic back problem. The son of Russian immigrants, he was born in New York City in 1914. Growing up poor, he was brought up to believe in a strong work ethic. As a teenager, he worked in a drugstore, and decided to become a pharmacist. However, after seeing several local plays, the young man was hooked on the arts. At the same time, he was aware that he had some obstacles to overcome as an actor. "I grew up in Brooklyn and had a `deeze-and-dooze' accent,' " he later said. "To correct that, I watched literally hundreds of old British movies, thus giving me a more British way of speaking." With much apprehension about embarking on the hit and miss world of show business, the young Harris joined the Millpond Playhouse in Long Island. His Broadway debut was in 1942's Heart of the City and during WW2 he acted in plays in the South Pacific for war-weary troops. He returned to New York and prospered in live television. His first big success was as co-star of the 1957-1960 series, The Third Man. The syndicated series starred Michael Rennie, and Harris played his assistant, the dour Bradford Webster, a humorless man with a strict eye for detail. Major TV roles followed, including guest shots as a meek bank robber in The Outlaws and as Charles Dickens in Bonanza. He was also the exasperated Mr. Phillips in The Bill Dana Show (1963-1965). Lost in Space, however, afforded him his favorite role. He took what had been written as a colourless villain and turned him into a greedy, selfish coward. Harris also spent many a night dreaming up sarcastic remarks to insult the robot with ("You Sanctimonious Scatterbrain!"). Harris received much acclaim for his role and even Cleveland Amory, critic for TV Guide, proclaimed Harris as, "The best supporting actor of 1966." He also supplied the voices of many cartoon characters for television and starred as 300 year-old space commander Gampu in the Saturday morning live-action show, Space Academy (1977-78). He devoted himself entirely to voice-over work by 1982 (commercials and cartoons) and was still a much sought-after voice artist. His most recent voice-over work was in the Disney animated film A Bug’s Life. He enjoyed meeting fans of Lost in Space and attended many conventions around the country.
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