I played Ruth Martin, the moral compass, the tea-pourer, the woman who said, 'Timmy, no!' approximately six thousand times. I loved that dog but do you know how hard it is to share screen time with a cute collie?
I’d rehearse my lines for hours, deliver my monologue and then Lassie would tilt his head, whimper beautifully with those large, soulful eyes and steal the scene.
Still, I built a legacy. Or at least, I thought I had. I was in films such as A Christmas Carol and Meet Me in St. Louis and then 1965 rolled around, and I was offered a role on Lost in Space. Finally! A human drama! Space adventure! A chance to wear a skirt in zero gravity! I was Ma Robinson, the calm, capable matriarch of a family that kept getting lost.
People keep telling me Lost in Space was ahead of its time to which I say, it was so far ahead that it didn’t even know where it was going but I held it together. I hugged Robot, I soothed Will, I gave Judy sensible advice and all while wearing heels on alien planets.
And yet, somehow, the Robot and Dr. Smith became cultural icons. The Robot, bless him, with his blinking lights and melodramatic warnings got action figures but I don’t begrudge the Bot his success. He was a good colleague, always on time and never complained about the heat on the soundstage.
I did a lot of TV, stage and screen work and I was the glue in most of them, the sensible woman in the middle of chaos, whether that involved Timmy in a well, or Will Robinson being menaced by a sentient turnip from Planet Zorblax and yet, through sheer force of being the only adult in two shows dominated by non-humans, I carved out a niche.
I made peace with my place in pop culture. I was never the star attraction. I wasn’t the wonder dog or the sassy robot. I was the one who said, Now, now, let’s not panic, while the world exploded around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment