'Lost in Space' stars Angela
Cartwright and Bill Mumy released a book about the series
By Stephanie Nolasco | Fox News
Angela Cartwright and Bill Mumy
have reunited for a very special reason.
The former castmates from the
‘60s sci-fi series "Lost in Space" have teamed up to release a new
book for fans titled "Lost (and Found) in Space2: Blast Off Into the
Expanded Edition."
The pictorial memoir, which
commemorates the 55th anniversary of the show’s second season debut, features over
925 photos including more than 600 newly found images. All the photographs were
hand-selected by the TV siblings and many of them come from their collections.
Mumy, 67, and Cartwright, 69,
spoke to Fox News about working together again, growing up in the spotlight, as
well as their favorite memories from the set.
Fox News: What inspired the both
of you to release this book now?
Bill Mumy: We’ve collaborated on
quite a few projects over half-century and we have a close relationship… It
just seemed like a natural time. So much has happened in the six, seven years
regarding "Lost in Space" with the new Netflix series.
We were both fortunate enough to
be a part of a show like this one. And honestly, the pandemic pretty much kept
us in lockdown at our homes so we needed a good project to work on. We wanted
to help others get through these times and make people happy.
Fox News: Looking back, what do
you believe was the secret behind the show’s lasting success?
Angela Cartwright: I think it was
a very interesting time in history. It was the psychedelic ‘60s. When we
started the series, The Beatles were at the top of the charts with "I Feel
Fine." And when we ended the series, they were recording "Helter
Skelter."
And the show never stopped airing
all over the world. It’s been in nonstop syndication since 1965. So a lot of
people still tune in and watch it. I get letters all the time about how they
grew up watching the series and they’re now sharing it with their families. I
think it brings back a little bit of innocence from our childhoods. There’s not
a lot on TV today that you can sit and watch with the whole family.
Fox News: Bill, what was your
initial impression of Angela when you first met her on set?
Mumy: I was quite a seasoned
professional before we started filming "Lost in Space." I started
working when I was 5 and I was just shy of 11 when we started filming. And I
had always had a crush on my female co-stars, such as Shirley Jones, Connie
Stevens, Bridget Bardot, Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden. They were all
beautiful blondes. But I must admit, when I saw Angela for the first time, it
was powerful *laughs*… And I caught up. I’m taller than her now, so it all
worked out.
Fox News: What about you Angela,
what was it like working with Bill? You were also a child actress at the time.
Cartwright: Oh, it was great. I
had just finished "Sound of Music." I had been working with other
kids, which I loved. And in "Sound of Music" it very much felt like a
family. So I just loved the energy that Bill had. And the two of us just hit it
off. We were very adventurous together and we had a great time filming the
show. I mean, to get up every morning and do what you love for a living, what
more could someone ask for?
Mumy: One of the things that you
might be alluding to is the fact that we started dating each other [long] after
the series ended. And that was a nice phase in our history. We’ve been friends
for a long time now. Many years.
Fox News: What’s your favorite memory
from your time on set?
Mumy: Every day after lunch, the
great Jonathan Harris, who played Dr. Zachary Smith, would hand out Tootsie
Pops to the entire crew and cast, every day, to give us a little sugar perk, to
keep our energies going. That was something I always looked forward to. We had
such nice chemistry with the cast.
Bobby May, who was locked inside
that claustrophobic robot, was very enthusiastic. We had a lot of fun together.
I have nothing but great memories and feelings for the years we worked on the
series. We still have a wonderful relationship years later. We’re still one big
dysfunctional family. We’ve always kept in touch aside from making personal
appearances at conventions. Our numbers may have dwindled a bit, but we’re
still very much connected as a family. We still communicate with June Lockhart,
who is 96.
And I love June Lockhart. She’s
an amazing human being for sure. She was such an incredible wordsmith. She
loved "Password" and she was even a guest on that show. She’s a very
smart lady. She was so inquisitive all the time. She loved opera, the space
program and rock ‘n’ roll. She brought the Allman Brothers to the studio when
they were in a group called Hour Glass. She took me and Angela to the
Whiskey-A-Go-Go. She got us tickets to see Simon & Garfunkel. June is truly
a rock ‘n’ roll gal.
Fox News: What caused "Lost
in Space" to end?
Mumy: That’s an interesting
historical debate. There was no closure. There were no goodbyes. We had all
been verbally told after the third season that we’d be back for a fourth
season. In those days, a season was about 30 episodes. So there was no wrap
party. We just said, "See you in six weeks" and went our way. There’s
a lot of different theories about it, but ultimately the network wanted [TV
producer] Irwin Allen to turn in a bunch of treatments for the fourth season
and he didn’t get around to it.
There were some budget
misunderstandings and it just got, well, lost in space. It went to the
cornfield. We got the phone call around April 1968 that after a little over
three years of working together that we wouldn’t be working together anymore.
Angela and I continued to attend school together for another year and of
course, we stayed close. But we didn’t see everybody else in the cast regularly
for quite a long time. Luckily, we [later] reunited and have been hanging out a
couple of times a year, pre-pandemic.
Fox News: Angela, was it
difficult growing up in front of the camera?
Cartwright: No, I think it was
easier because there wasn't social media at the time… There wasn’t this
pressure to be a certain way. It was very different. There was a kind of
innocence about that. I started when I was 3 and continued to work all through
my teen and young adult years. I bowed out a little bit because I wanted to be
a mom. It was never a drag. There wasn’t this competition. Now everybody wants
to be in showbiz even if they haven’t studied acting. It’s a whole different
scene these days.
Fox News: So it was easier to be
a child star in those days?
Mumy: I don’t think that’s true.
I’m not saying anything negative about my experiences at all because I very
much enjoyed doing what I did. But whether it’s 1965 or 2021, that’s still a
minor who has to go to work for nine or nine and-a-half hours. A minor has to
get a minimum of three hours of schooling within that time and have a lunch
break. Then you have to memorize your dialogue in advance and deliver it. I don’t think it’s much different now.
Fox News: It’s been said the
series inspired some fans to pursue careers in NASA.
Cartwright: Absolutely. Bill and
I were invited to go and see the liftoff of the Discovery, which was an amazing
experience… So many of the technicians told us how much they loved "Lost
in Space" and how it inspired them to go into the space program. That’s
something we hear over and over again. And I think that’s part of the show’s
success.
Fox News: What do you make of the
new Netflix revival?
Mumy: I think it’s great. It’s
very much in sync with the original tone of "Lost in Space." If you
look back at the first half of the first season, it was a pretty dark, science
fiction story. But the network CBS aired the show during family hour so they
started getting a lot of letters from parents saying it was too scary for
little kids.
So "Lost in Space" started
changing its tone somewhere around mid-Season 1. And the new Netflix series is
very much in tune with the original vision. I got to play the original Dr.
Smith in the Netflix series and Angela played Parker Posey’s mother… It was
exciting for us to be a part of it and revisit the story again.
Fox News: What do you hope
readers will get from the book?
Cartwright: A good time, some
good memories… I hope it puts people in a happy place and I hope it satisfies
the hardcore "Lost in Space" fans with seeing new photos and hearing
new tales.
Mumy: … I think we’ve done a
really good job of sharing our experiences of what it was like filming the
show. I think it’s an interesting little pocket view into a show that has made
people happy for over 50 years.