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« on: November 06, 2002, 02:51:29 AM »
This was posted on the Lost in Space list that I belong to. It is Jonathan Harris' official obit and it contains a couple of surprises, even for die hard fans.
JONATHAN HARRIS
(November 6, 1914 - November 3, 2002)
Jonathan Harris, known to millions of fans around the world as TV's Dr.
Smith from the now-classic sci-fi fantasy series Lost in Space (1965-1968)
died suddenly near his home in Encino, California, following a brief
illness. The 87-year-old actor was a veteran of hundreds of stage,
television and film performances, including memorable guest appearances in
shows like Twilight Zone, Bewitched, and Battlestar Galactica and films such
as A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2. But it was as the cowardly, flamboyant,
but always lovable Zachary Smith that Harris will forever be remembered.
Born on November 6, 1914, as Jonathan Charasuchin, Harris was the second of
Sam and Jennie Charasuchin's three children. The family lived in a
six-story tenement building in the Bronx and endured an ongoing struggle to
make ends meet. By the age of 12, Jonathan contributed to the family
finances by working as a stock boy at the local pharmacy. Though the family
did not enjoy many of life's luxuries, Sam Charasuchin, a Russian-Jewish
immigrant, taught Jonathan to appreciate the arts by exposing him to opera
and taking him to performances at the neighborhood Yiddish theater. Soon,
Jonathan realized his love of acting and began self-imposed and self-taught
training to rid himself of his New York accent and dialect. At the age of
18, he legally changed his name to Jonathan Harris, but afraid of his
parents' disapproval, he did not alert them of his desire to perform.
In 1932, Harris enrolled at Fordham University and graduated four years
later with a degree in Pharmacology. In 1938, he married his high school
sweetheart, Gertrude Bregmen. The two shared an elegant, sophisticated life
in New York, a far cry from Harris' meager childhood, but still feeling
unsettled in his career, in 1939, Harris engineered a phony resume and
auditioned for the repertory company at the Millpond Playhouse in Roslyn,
Long Island. After his acceptance into the company, Harris spent the next
year playing supporting roles in 16 of the group's productions. Soon, his
ambition led him to Broadway, where he starred in Gilbert Miller's
production of Heart of a City after only three years of performing on stage.
In 1946, he starred alongside Paul Muni and Marlon Brando in A Flag is
Born and gave such a stirring performance that he finally received his
father's blessing to continue his acting career.
Harris also made notable appearances in the feature films Botany Bay and
Catch Me If You Can. The latter filmed in Cuba during the coup that
propelled Castro to power. The new dictator seized the film, and it was
never released.
Throughout the 1950s, Harris guest-starred in dozens of television
productions, including Lights Out, Studio One, Kraft Television Theater and
Zorro (opposite Guy Williams), to name just a few. In 1959 Harris was cast
as Bradford Webster, opposite Michael Rennie's Harry Lime in the television
version of The Third Man, loosely based on the Graham Greene book. It was
here that Harris honed his persona as a highly sophisticated though
always-sardonic personality. An amalgam of the larger-than-life actors and
actresses with whom he had worked in the theater (Tallulah Bankhead, Paul
Muni, Martita Hunt, John Carradine, etc.), this stylish persona also served
Harris well for the two years he played Mr. Phillips, the imperious hotel
manager on the short-lived sit com, The Bill Dana Show. It was this role,
as well as Harris's growing reputation for a no-nonsense always-on-time
professional, that brought him to the attention of producer Irwin Allen, who
in 1965 was scouting around for the perfect actor to play the nefarious
saboteur, Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space.
After briefly considering other actors like Caroll O'Connor and Eddie Albert
for the part, Allen chose Harris, who, within weeks of the show's premiere
in September 1965, had all but stolen the show from co-stars Guy Williams,
June Lockhart, Marta Kristen and Mark Goddard. With the aid of a
bubble-headed robot (called "Robot") and child actors Angela Cartwright and
Billy Mumy, Harris added new dimensions to the Smith character, making him
more lovable and childlike in a way that endeared him to fans, but often
infuriated his fellow actors. He would often rewrite his own dialogue and
gave numerous suggestions to Allen and the Lost in Space creative team.
Nevertheless, when Harris would occasionally solicit Allen's approval for
his antics, he was encouraged by Allen's response: "Do more!" Harris's
scene-stealing was further rewarded by the consistently high ratings the
series achieved during its three-year run, and during its continued
popularity for nearly four decades in syndication and on cable.
Rather than hiding from his small-screen alter ego, Harris loved the
character he had created and wore it proudly throughout the balance of his
career. During the 1970s and 80s, he continued to appear in featured and
guest starring roles on television (Bewitched, Land of the Giants,
Battlestar Galactica, etc.) and in regional theater (The Man Who Came to
Dinner, A Christmas Carol, etc.).
Throughout the 1990s, Harris enjoyed the enormous resurgence of interest
audiences around the world were beginning to show in Lost in Space and,
particularly, in his Dr. Smith character. Although he declined to appear in
the Lost in Space feature film produced by New Line Cinema in 1998, Harris
was a frequent participant at countless sci-fi conventions and personal
appearances, most notably the 25th and 30th Anniversary Lost in Space Cast
Reunions held in Boston.
In 1998, Harris, reprised his Dr. Smith character in a one-hour television
special entitled Lost in Space Forever. Co-produced by Twentieth Television
and New Line, the syndicated special was hosted by John Larroquette and
co-starred Bill Mumy.
Although virtually retired from the screen in his later years, Harris
delighted in performing voice over roles in dozens of animated children's
cartoons for television (Problem Child, Freakazoid!, etc.) and was a
featured contributor to the Walt Disney Productions/Pixar Studios-produced
feature films, A Bug's Life (as "Manny the Praying Mantis") and Toy Story 2
(as "The Fixer").
At the time of his death, Harris was preparing for his return to television
as Dr. Smith in the upcoming NBC television movie, Lost in Space: The
Journey Home, to be produced by Fox Television Studios and Synthesis
Entertainment.
Harris is survived by his wife of 64 years, Gertrude, his son Richard, his
daughter-in-law Lynnelle, his granddaughters Melissa and Vanessa, and his
sisters Rosalie and Allene.. Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,
November 6 at Westwood Memorial Park, in Los Angeles.
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