Mark Goddard

Biography: Mark was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1936, the youngest of five children. He was raised in Scituate, MA, a small town outside of Boston. His birth name was Charles, so he was "Chuck" to his siblings and friends. He became a local celebrity in high school when he led his baseball and basketball teams to state championship finals in both sports. Mark went to Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA in hopes of playing basketball. These hopes were quickly dashed because of stiff competition and Mark turned to drama. He has always maintained, and to this day tells young people, "When something in life goes against you, take it, and make it work for you." He left Holy Cross in his junior year to go to New York and study acting in a more serious manner at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Following two years of study and work in stock theater, Mark was ready to pursue his dreams and left for Los Angeles.

After only three weeks in Hollywood, he signed a contract with Aaron Spelling to play the continuing role of Cully in the series Johnny Ringo. This was in 1959, and Westerns were hot. It suited Mark just fine because his childhood heroes were Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autrey. It was at this time that he changed his name from Chuck to Mark largely due to his friend and mentor, Chuck Conners (The Rifleman). Mark was busy during the next years: Professionally -- three years on The Detectives followed Ringo, then to his surprise three years on Lost in Space at 20th Century Fox became the role he is best-known for. After Lost in Space, Mark did many guest starring roles on series such as The Fall Guy and Mod Squad, but temporarily lost his desire for acting and became a Hollywood agent. However, he found that being an agent wasn't for him, so he returned to acting. In 1978, he was hired by director Martin Scorcese to play opposite Liza Minelli in the Broadway musical The Act. During this time he also appeared as the villainous killer Ted Clayton on One Life to Live and also had the dubious honor of killing Alec Baldwin in the soap The Doctors. After heading back to the West coast, Mark starred as Derek Barrington on General Hospital and made several guest appearances on other popular shows before deciding to bring his acting career to an end.

He returned to his roots, finished college after an absence of thirty years and went on to receive his Masters Degree in Education. He is currently a special education teacher for "at risk" youths at the F.L. Chamberlain School in Middleboro, Mass, and is happily raising a son with his third wife, Evelyn, an English professor.… Expand