Ohhhh! The pain!

[sandeano]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jonathan Harris, the flamboyantly fussy actor who portrayed the dastardly, cowardly antagonist Dr. Zachary Smith on the 1960's sci-fi show "Lost in Space," has died. He was 87.



Harris died Sunday from a blood clot in his heart while receiving therapy at an Encino-area hospital for a chronic back problem, family spokesman Kevin J. Burns said Monday.

Born Jonathan Charasuchin in the Bronx to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Harris adopted the stage persona of a classically trained British actor with his grandiloquent accent, crisp enunciation and professorial manner.

When people would ask him if he was from England, Harris would confess: "'Oh no, my dear, just affected,'" said Burns, a longtime friend and director of the 1998 documentary "Lost in Space Forever."

Harris also worked with Pixar Animation Studios in recent years, supplying the voice of Manny the preying-mantis magician in "A Bug's Life" and the elderly doll repairman in "Toy Story 2."

"Lost in Space," which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1968, was a sci-fi takeoff on the "Swiss Family Robinson" story in which the castaway clan was trapped amid the uncharted fathoms of space instead of on a deserted island.

Harris' character, Dr. Smith, was a saboteur who caused the Robinson family's ship, Jupiter II, to fly off course — but he also found himself trapped with them in the craft.

 

[Docker_Brat]

Beat me to it, just heard that sad news.

A very funny man right till the end.

"You bubble headed booby!"

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Dr Smith was one of my all time favourite TV characters.

Docker_Brat summed it up beautifully.

 

[sandeano]

Here's one for the older members...

Does anyone remember the Saturday morning kids' show from the mid 1970s called "Uncle Croc's Block" where Harris played a character named Mr. Bitterbottom and was teamed with the campest actor of all time, Charles Nelson Reilly?

Sort of puppet-related skits with the odd cartoon and lots of slapstick.

Man, they don't make 'em like THAT anymore.

 

[Grendel]

Originally posted by sandeano
Here's one for the older members...

Does anyone remember the Saturday morning kids' show from the mid 1970s called "Uncle Croc's Block" where Harris played a character named Mr. Bitterbottom and was teamed with the campest actor of all time, Charles Nelson Reilly?

Sort of puppet-related skits with the odd cartoon and lots of slapstick.

Man, they don't make 'em like THAT anymore.

To true... vale Director Basil BitterBottom (a.k.a Dr. Z Smith). I wonder what ever happened to CNR (a.k.a Uncle Croc) or Mr.RabbitEars?....

 

[Asgardian]

I grew up watching Lost in Space

My favourite was episode number 58, "The Astral Traveller", where Will and Dr Smith were transported to an old Scottish castle, which naturally had an assortment of ghosties, the main ones being Hamish Rhu Glamis & Angus.

Great stuff

Jonathan Harris was never a star, but he entertained millions, and still does whenever and wherever the show is repeated, and for that he is loved by all those millions, for whom Lost in Space is not just a TV show, but an institution.

Vale