Charles William Mumy, Jr. (born February 1, 1954), is an American actor, musician, pitchman, instrumentalist, voice-over artist and a figure in the science-fiction community. He is known primarily for his roles in movies and television, character-type roles, and who also works in television production. The red-headed Mumy came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, most notably as Will Robinson, the youngest of the three children of Prof. John and Dr. Maureen Robinson (Guy Williams and June Lockhart) and only friend of the nefarious and pompous Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), in the cult 1960s CBS sci-fi television series Lost in Space. He later appeared as a lonely teenager, Sterling North, in the 1969 Disney movie, Rascal, and as Teft in the 1971 film Bless the Beasts and Children, which also featured the hit title song by the sibling musical duo The Carpenters. In the 1990s, he had a recurring role as Lennier in the syndicated sci-fi TV series Babylon 5, and he also served as narrator of A&E Network's Emmy Award-winning series, Biography.

Life

Early life and career

Mumy was born in San Gabriel, California, the son of Muriel Gertrude (née Gould) and Charles William Mumy, Sr., a cattle rancher. He began his professional career at the age of six, and has worked on over 400 television episodes, 18 motion pictures, various commercials, and scores of voice over work, as well as working as a musician, songwriter, recording artist and writer.

Television career

He is well known as a player in the original The Twilight Zone, especially in the episode, "It's a Good Life," where he played the all-powerful and evil child "Anthony" who completely dominates and terrorizes his town. Mumy also played the character of young Pip, a boy who enjoyed playing with his father but was always ignored, in the episode, "In Praise of Pip," and the character of Billy Bayles, a boy who talks to his dead grandmother through a toy telephone, in the episode, "Long Distance Call." He later played an adult Anthony, whose daughter (played by his daughter, Liliana Mumy) has similar powers, in the second revival of The Twilight Zone.

Mumy was the first choice for the role of Eddie Munster, but his parents objected because of the extensive make-up, and the role went to Butch Patrick; Billy did appear in one episode as a friend of Eddie.

He is probably best known as Will Robinson from the classic 1965-68 television series Lost in Space, and as ambassadorial aide Lennier from the 1990s popular syndicated series Babylon 5, for which Mumy has garnered the praise and adoration of many fans for his depiction of both characters.

He played a Starfleet member in the acclaimed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Siege of AR-558". To his delight, he plays a human character who assists Ezri Dax in turning cloaked Dominion mines against an army of Jem'hadar.

His most recent acting performances can be seen in a 2006 episode of Crossing Jordan and the Sci Fi original film A.I. Assault.

Voice-over career

Mumy has narrated over 50 episodes of the Arts & Entertainment Channel's Biography series, as well as hosting and narrating several other documentaries and specials for A & E, Animal Planet network, The Sci Fi Channel, and E!. His voice over acting talents can be heard on animated shows like Ren and Stimpy, Scooby Doo, Batman: The Animated Series, Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs, Little Wizard Adventures, The Oz Kids and Disney's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He also voices dozens of national commercials, such as Farmers Insurance, Ford, Bud Ice, Blockbuster, Twix, Oscar Mayer, and McDonald's.

Music career

Mumy is an accomplished musician who plays guitar, bass, keyboards, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and percussion. Among his various musical credits, Bill has recorded and written songs with America, toured with Shaun Cassidy, and played in Rick Springfield's band in the film, Hard to Hold. He also created the band The Be Five with other Babylon 5 actors. Along with comic book artists who also are musicians, he'll perform at SDCC in a band called Seduction of the Innocent.

Mumy has released a number of solo CDs, including Dying to Be Heard, In the Current, Pandora's Box, After Dreams Come True, Los Angeles Times, and Ghosts, as well as nine albums with partner Robert Haimer as Barnes and Barnes. Their most famous hit is the song "Fish Heads", which was named as one of the top 100 videos of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

Friendship with Jonathan Harris

At age 11, Mumy began working with Jonathan Harris in 1965 on Lost in Space, and the two became close friends, both on and off set. He would also spend time with Harris's family, while not working on Space or taking a hiatus from the show. In 1996, it was mentioned that Mumy was also reunited with Harris, again at a Walt Disney convention in Orlando, Florida before he worked with Harris on Lost In Space: Forever, a couple of years later, where Mumy wrote the script and Harris rewrote the lines. This was done one year after the rest of the cast (including both Mumy & Harris) appeared inside TV Guide and said that the Sci Fi Channel had planned to do a Lost in Space marathon while promoting a new movie. Harris was involved in the movie, Lost in Space: The Journey Home, with him, but died before production started in 2002, and Mumy attended his series' star's funeral, where he read the eulogy. After Harris's death on November 3, 2002, Mumy was asked to narrate his longtime friend's life on A&E Biography, that same year.

Personal life

Unlike many child actors, Mumy entered the profession at his own insistence, and his parents took pains to make sure he matured properly in his job. His father, who was a cattle rancher, carefully invested his son's income, and thereby avoided problems encountered by other child actors of his period, like Charles Herbert.

He currently lives in Hollywood Hills, California, with his wife Eileen and their two accomplished child actor children, Seth and Liliana.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1960	The Wizard of Baghdad	Aladdin (uncredited)
1961	Tammy Tell Me True	Neil Bateman (uncredited)
1963	A Child Is Waiting	Boy counting Jean's pearls
1963	A Ticklish Affair	Alex Martin
1963	Palm Springs Weekend	'Boom Boom' Yates
1965	Dear Brigitte	Erasmus Leaf
1968	Wild in the Streets	Boy
1969	Rascal	Sterling North
1971	Bless the Beasts and Children	Teft
1973	Papillon	Lariot
1982	Fish Heads	Art Barnes
1983	Twilight Zone: The Movie	Tim (Segment #3)
1984	Hard to Hold	Keyboard Player
1991	Captain America	Young General Fleming
1992	Double Trouble	Bob
1995	Three Wishes	Neighbor
1997	The Monkey Prince	Voice of Sam
1997	Underground Adventure	Voice of Sam
1997	The Weird Al Show	UPS guy
2004	Comic Book: The Movie	Himself
2005	Holly Hobbie and Friends: Surprise Party (Direct to DVD)	Voice of Bud (Amy's father)

Quotations

I get bored doing one thing only. I've been very lucky to explore a lot of different artistic territory, and I don't see why I won't continue on that path.

References

External links

• Bill Mumy official website