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Jonathan Harris
Age: 87 (passed away Nov. 3rd, 2002)
Height: 5' 11"
Birth Place: Bronx, New York, USA
Born: Nov. 6th, 1914
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Jonathan Harris' Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Born Jonathan Charasuchin in the Bronx to impoverished Russian-Jewish émigrés, Jonathan Harris worked as a box boy in a pharmacy at age 12 and later earned his pharmacy degree at Fordham University. The desire to act proved overwhelming, however, and he forsook this promising trade for the theater, shaking off his thick Bronx accent and changing his surname to one easier to pronounce. After performing in over 100 plays in stock companies nationwide, he made his Broadway bow in 1942 with "Heart of a City" and entertained WWII troops in the South Pacific.
Following his introduction to live television drama in 1948, he ventured off to Hollywood and made his film debut, co-starring with Alan Ladd (I) and James Mason (I) in Botany Bay (1953). However, it was TV that would make him a household name - first as Bradley Webster in "The Third Man" (1959) opposite Michael Rennie, and then the role that made him a cult icon, Dr. Zachary Smith, the dastardly, effete stowaway on "Lost in Space" (1965), with Harris easily stealing the show week after week as he botched and mangled all the good intentions of the Robinson family to get back home to Earth. Unable to top this achievement and seriously typecast as a plummy villain, the remainder of his career was spent with great relish providing voice-over work in commercials and animated cartoons. Harris died of a blood clot to the heart just days before his 88th birthday.
TRIVIA:
- Best remembered by the public for his special guest starring role as Dr. Zachary Smith on "Lost in Space" (1965).
- Had beat out both actors, 'Jack Elam' (qv) and 'Carroll O'Connor' (qv) for the role of Dr. Zachary Smith on _"Lost in Space" (1965)_ (qv).
- Remained good friends with 'Bill Mumy' (qv) during and after _"Lost in Space" (1965)_ (qv).
- Although his character's eventual monopolization of _"Lost in Space" (1965)_ (qv) aggravated members of the cast, all of them stated that he was the nicest of people to work with.
- When he was attending high school, Jonathan was interested in archeology, Latin, romantic poetry and Shakespeare.
- He was the co-star of the Bill Dana show. Much of his banter from that show was used on the robot in Lost in Space.
- Received a degree in pharmacology from Fordham University.
- Born in the borough of the Bronx (New York City) to Russian-Jewish immigrants.
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