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Bill Mumy
Birth name	Charles William Mumy, Jr.
Born	February 1, 1954 (1954-02-01) (age 53) San Gabriel, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Art Barnes
Years active	1960-present
Spouse(s)	Eileen Mumy
Official site	www.BillMumy.com

Charles William Mumy, Jr. (IPA: [ˈmu�mi]) (born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, musician, instrumentalist, voice-over artist and a figure in the science fiction community, who is known primarily for his roles in movies and television.

The naturally red-headed Mumy who came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor as Guy Williams's and June Lockhart's youngest son and Jonathan Harris's closest friend, Will Robinson, in the cult 1960s television series, Lost In Space. In the 1990s, he had a recurring role as Lennier, in Babylon 5, and he also served as narrator of A&E Network's Emmy Award-winning series, Biography.

Biography

Early life and career

Mumy was born in San Gabriel, California and 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. 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; Billy did appear in one episode as a friend of Eddie.

He is probably best known as "Will Robinson" from the 1960s television series Lost in Space and as ambassadorial aide Lennier from Babylon 5, Mumy has garnered the praise of many fans for his depiction of the character. Initially a gentle, intelligent, and naive person who serves Minbari ambassador Delenn out of genuine admiration. He eventually falls in love with Delenn but is forced to suppress his feelings, seeing himself as an inadequate counterpart for Delenn. He understands that Delenn has a grand destiny before her that includes EarthForce Captain John Sheridan, not himself. He begins to exhibit his dark side in the episode Ceremonies of Light and Dark (his love for Delenn is also first revealed here), his normal gentleness and calm demeanor replaced with anger as he worries for Delenn after she is abducted by human terrorists aboard the station. He grows more and more jealous of the love Delenn has for the human captain, eventually leading him to "betray" Sheridan by leaving him for dead in a fire aboard one of the White Star ships. When Sheridan is rescued moments later, Lennier leaves, ashamed of what he had done.

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.

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, 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 9 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

Mumy began working with Jonathan Harris in 1965 on Lost In Space, and the two became close friends, on and off. He would also spend time with Harris's family, while not working on Space. Sam's death in 1977 drew Harris & Mumy real closer, as Mumy was very devastated to hear about this. In 1996, it was mentioned that Mumy was also reunited with Harris, again at a Walt Disney convention in Orlando, 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, which made them better than ever. Harris was involved in the movie, Lost In Space: The Journey Home, but died before production started in 2002, and Mumy attended his co-star's funeral, where he read the eulogy. After Harris's death, Mumy was asked to narrate his co-star'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.

Current activity

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

Selected filmography

Quotations

External links

• Bill Mumy official website
• Bill Mumy at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Mumy at TV.com
• Bill Mumy article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki