Mark Goddard, Lost In Space Actor, Dead At 87

Mark Goddard, best known for his roles as Derek Barrington in the long-running soap "General Hospital" and Major Don West in the CBS TV series "Lost in Space," has died at age 87. The sad news was confirmed by his wife, Evelyn Pezzulich, in a Facebook statement. "I'll never know how I deserved to spend 33 years with such a loving, gentle, handsome man who made me laugh so often," it read, in part.

According to Pezzulich, Goddard was diagnosed with pneumonia a few days after his birthday. "We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure," she shared. She revealed that she was with her husband during his final moments, as were his children. Goddard and Pezzulich, a retired English professor, had one child together, a son named John. Goddard's survivors also include his daughter Melissa and son Michael, whom he shared with his first wife, late Hollywood art consultant Marcia Rogers.

Goddard is being remembered fondly by fans of his work and those who worked with him, including his "Lost in Space" co-star Billy Mumy. "Shortly after a great phone chat he and I had on his 87th birthday in late July, I became aware that I would most likely never see or speak with him again," Mumy wrote on Facebook. "The last words we exchanged were 'I love you.'"

While reminiscing about Mark Goddard on Facebook, Bill Mumy referenced his friend's conflicting feelings about "Lost in Space," which aired from 1965 to 1968. "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," he wrote.

While speaking to The Enterprise about the show in 2008, Goddard said, "I wanted to be Paul Newman ... I didn't want to do this." So, it should come as no surprise that he wasn't a fan of the shiny spacesuits the Robinsons and their fellow space explorers often wore during their adventures. In his memoir "To Space and Back," he recalled thinking he looked like "a wrapped-aluminum baked potato" in the costume. "[I] said to myself, 'How the hell did this happen?'" he wrote (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Eventually, Goddard accepted the fame he gained from the show and started attending sci-fi conventions. He even made a cameo in the 1998 "Lost in Space" movie, in which "Friends" actor Matt LeBlanc plays his former role. But by the time the movie premiered, Goddard had found a new calling: teaching special-needs children at the F.L. Chamberlain School in Middleboro, Massachusetts. "I was blessed to have a good life," he told The Enterprise. "I blew it in a lot of ways, I screwed it up, but I survived it."