"There's a part of me that envisions him having a martini in heaven right now," former costar Bill Mumy wrote in a remembrance.
Mark Goddard, the actor best known for playing the irascible pilot Don West on the 1960s CBS sci-fi series Lost in Space, died Tuesday in Hingham, Mass., at 87.
His wife, Evelyn Pezzulich, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Charles Harvey Goddard, the actor began his career in the late 1950s with series roles on the Western Johnny Ringo and the crime drama The Detectives.
His signature role came in 1965 with Lost in Space, which followed the Robinson family — father John Robinson (Guy Williams), mother Maureen (June Lockhart), and children Judy (Marta Kristen), Penny (Angela Cartwright), and Will (Billy Mumy) — along with Don and a trusty robot, as they searched for a way to return to Earth after being left adrift in space by an act of sabotage. The show ran for three seasons, from 1965 to 1968.
Mumy paid homage to his late costar Friday on Facebook, remembering Goddard as a "truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years."
"The last words we exchanged were 'I love you,'" Mumy wrote, adding, "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… 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."
Goddard, Lockhart, Cartwright, and Kristen also made a memorable cameo in the 1998 film adaptation of Lost in Space, which starred Matt LeBlanc as Don West.
Goddard's other television credits included Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, The Bill Dana Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones, The Fall Guy, General Hospital, and One Life to Live. His film credits included The Monkey's Uncle, A Rage to Live, The Love-Ins, Blue Sunshine, and Overnight Sensation.