Jonathan Harris facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jonathan Harris
|
|
|---|---|
Jonathan Harris, c. 1967
|
|
| Born |
Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin
November 6, 1914 The Bronx, New York, U.S.
|
| Died | November 3, 2002 (aged 87) Encino, California, U.S.
|
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1938–2002 |
| Spouse(s) |
Gertrude Bregman
(m. 1938) |
| Children | 1 |
Jonathan Harris (born Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin; November 6, 1914 – November 3, 2002) was an American actor. He was known for playing many different types of characters. He appeared in over 500 TV shows and movies. He also did many voiceovers for cartoons.
Two of his most famous roles were Bradford Webster in The Third Man and Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space. Later in his career, he lent his voice to animated movies like A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Jonathan Harris was born on November 6, 1914, in the Bronx, New York City. He was the second of three children in a family that didn't have much money. When he was 12, he started working as a clerk in a pharmacy.
Even though money was tight, Jonathan's father wanted him to experience culture. They went to the Yiddish Theatre, where his father encouraged him to listen to opera. Jonathan loved it! He changed his Bronx accent to sound more sophisticated. He also loved Broadway plays, even if he couldn't often afford tickets. As a teenager, he became interested in archaeology, Latin, poetry, and Shakespeare.
In 1931, at age 16, he finished high school. He found it hard to fit in, except with his girlfriend, Gertrude Bregman. She later became his wife. Before college, he legally changed his name from "Charasuchin" to "Harris." He studied pharmacology at Fordham University and graduated in 1936. For a while, he worked in drugstores. He got married in 1938.
But acting was his true passion. At 24, he created a fake resume to try out for a theater group. He performed in several plays before joining the company. Harris became a popular character actor for 30 years on television. His first TV appearance was in 1949 on The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.
Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space
Jonathan Harris was chosen to play Dr. Zachary Smith in the science fiction show Lost in Space. Dr. Smith was an evil and sneaky character. He wasn't in the very first pilot episode of the show. The Robot character wasn't there either.
When Harris joined the cast, the show was already being made. The main actors already had their contracts. Harris made a special deal to be called a "Special Guest Star" in every episode.
Bill Mumy, who played Will Robinson on the show, said that Dr. Smith was supposed to be a dark villain. He was even meant to be killed off after a short time. But Jonathan Harris played him so well that he became very popular.
During the first season, Harris started to rewrite his own lines. The show's creator, Irwin Allen, liked his changes and let him help write. Harris soon became the star of the show. He was famous for his funny insults to The Robot. These insults became very popular.
Dr. Smith often called The Robot names like "bubble-headed booby" and "clamoring clod." Bill Mumy said that Harris quickly developed the character. He added, "He truly, truly single handedly created the character of Dr. Zachary Smith that we know — this man we love to hate, coward who would cower behind the little boy, 'Oh, the pain! Save me, William!' That's all him!"
When the show was renewed for its third season, it still focused on Dr. Smith. Even though the show was still popular, the writers ran out of new ideas. Lost in Space was unexpectedly canceled in 1968 after 83 episodes. Fans were very upset.
Gary Oldman played Dr. Smith in the 1998 movie version. His version was more serious and less funny than Harris's. For the 2018 Netflix show, Parker Posey played Dr. Zachary Smith. In this version, Dr. Smith was a woman who stole someone else's identity.
Even though he was famous for Dr. Smith, Harris often played similar roles. He was often cast as a fancy or slightly over-the-top villain. For example, Irwin Allen cast him as a villain in an episode of Land of the Giants.
In 1970, Harris played another not-so-nice villain, the Bulmanian Ambassador, in the Get Smart episode "How Green Was My Valet." He also voiced Lucifer, a robot character, in the 1978 show Battlestar Galactica.
Voice Roles
Later in his career, Jonathan Harris became a busy voice actor. You could hear his voice in TV commercials and many cartoons. Some of these included The Banana Splits, Darkwing Duck, Spider-Man, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
He also voiced characters in movies like Happily Ever After, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2. He even did voice work for an episode of the animated Superman series.
In the cartoon series Freakazoid! (1995–1997), Harris played a character called "Professor Jones." This character was a funny copy of his cowardly Dr. Smith role. He even said Dr. Smith's famous line, "Oh, the pain!" Other characters on the show would ask him, "Weren't you on a TV show with a robot?"
In 2001, a year before he passed away, he recorded voices for a short animated film called The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas. This was his last work, and the film was released in 2009.
Lost in Space Reunion Appearances
In 1990, Jonathan Harris met up with the other actors from Lost in Space. This was for a special event celebrating the show's 25th anniversary. Over 30,000 fans attended! Harris also went to other fan conventions with his Lost in Space castmates. One such event was at Disney World in 1996.
- On June 14, 1995, Harris and other cast members appeared in The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen. This TV special honored Irwin Allen, the creator of Lost in Space, who had died in 1991.
- Harris played Dr. Smith again in a TV special called Lost in Space Forever.
- In April 1998, Harris was a guest on the talk show Biography. He shared happy memories about his time on Lost in Space.
- In late 2002, Harris and the surviving cast were planning to film a movie called Lost in Space: The Journey Home. Sadly, the movie couldn't be made after Harris passed away.
Personal Life and Death
Jonathan Harris was married to his childhood sweetheart, Gertrude Bregman. They were married from 1938 until his death in 2002. Gertrude passed away in 2007 at age 93. They had one son, Richard, who was born in 1942.
Throughout his life, Harris enjoyed many hobbies. He loved gourmet cooking, watching movies, reading, and traveling. He also enjoyed painting, magic, and playing the piano. He even played a piano teacher in an episode of Bewitched in 1968. He liked listening to opera, spending time with children, gardening, and knitting. He also enjoyed dancing.
Two months before the Lost in Space reunion movie was set to film, Harris went to the hospital. He thought he had a back problem. On November 3, 2002, Jonathan Harris died from a blood clot in his heart. He was 87 years old, just three days before his 88th birthday.
Harris was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Friends who spoke at his funeral included director Arthur Hiller, producer Kevin Burns, and his Lost in Space co-star Bill Mumy.
Images for kids
-
Harris voiced Manny in A Bug's Life, 1998
See also
In Spanish: Jonathan Harris para niños
