Editing Bill Mumy (section)

==Television and film career==
Among Mumy's earliest television roles was six-year-old Willy in the "Donald's Friend" (1960) episode of the [[NBC]]-TV family drama [[television series|series]] ''[[National Velvet (TV series)|National Velvet]]'', starring [[Lori Martin]]. He starred in three episodes of [[CBS]]-TV's [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|original ''Twilight Zone'']]: "[[It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)|It's a Good Life]]" (S3 E8 November 1961), as six-year-old Anthony, who terrorizes his town with [[psychic]] powers (a role he later reprised along with his daughter [[Liliana Mumy|Liliana]] in the "[[It's Still a Good Life]]" episode of [[The Twilight Zone (2002 TV series)|the second revival series]]); "[[In Praise of Pip]]" (September 1963), as a vision of [[Jack Klugman]]'s long-neglected dying son; and "[[Long Distance Call]]" (March 1961) as Billy Bayles, who talks to his dead grandmother through a toy telephone.

[[File:Alfred Hitchcock Presents Billy Mumy 1961.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Mumy in the ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' episode ''Bang! You're Dead'', 1961]]
In 1961, Mumy was cast on CBS-TV's ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' series in "The Door Without a Key", featuring [[John Larch]], who played his father in "It's a Good Life". The same year, Mumy starred as little Jackie in the episode "Bang! You're Dead", featuring [[Marta Kristen]], who later played his sister Judy on ''Lost in Space''. Mumy was cast as Mark Murdock in the "Keep an Eye on Santa Claus" (1962) episode of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC-TV]] drama series ''[[Going My Way (TV series)|Going My Way]]'', starring [[Gene Kelly]]. His fellow guest stars were [[Cloris Leachman]] (who played his mother in "It's a Good Life"), [[Steve Brodie (actor)|Steve Brodie]], and [[Frank McHugh]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0937698| title="Keep an Eye on Santa Claus", ''Going My Way'', December 12, 1962| publisher=[[IMDb]]| access-date=March 22, 2013}}</ref>

At age eight, Mumy appeared in [[Jack Palance]]'s ABC-TV [[circus]] drama ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (TV series)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]'' (1963); he was cast as Miles, a parentless boy, in the ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' episode "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" (1963), and he portrayed Freddy in the "End of an Image" (1963) episode of NBC-TV's modern Western series ''[[Empire (1962 TV series)|Empire]]'', starring [[Richard Egan (actor)|Richard Egan]].

In 1964, he was cast as [[Richard Kimble]]'s nephew in ABC-TV's ''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'' episode, "Home Is the Hunted"; as Barry in the [[NBC]]-TV medical drama ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]'' episode "Sunday Father"; as himself three times in the ABC sitcom ''[[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]]''; in the [[Walt Disney|Disney]] film ''For the Love of Willadena''; and as a troubled orphan taken in by the Stephenses in the ''[[Bewitched]]'' fantasy sitcom episode "[[List of Bewitched episodes#Season 1 (1964-1965)|A Vision of Sugarplums]]" (December 1964), on ABC-TV.

Mumy was reportedly the first choice to portray [[Eddie Munster]] in the 1964 CBS situation comedy ''[[The Munsters]]'', but his parents objected to the extensive makeup requirements. The role instead went to [[Butch Patrick]]. Mumy appeared in one episode as a friend of Eddie.

Mumy guest starred in an episode of NBC-TV's ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'', "Whatever Became of Baby Custer?" (1965). That same year, he also appeared in an episode of ''[[Bewitched]]'' titled "Junior Executive" (1965), in which he played a young Darrin Stephens.

[[File:Brigitte_Bardot_-_1965.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Bill Mumy with [[Brigitte Bardot]] in ''[[Dear Brigitte]]'', 1965]]
Mumy starred in ''[[Dear Brigitte]]'' (1965), a film adaptation of the novel ''Erasmus with Freckles'', as Erasmus Leaf, a child mathematical genius who develops a crush on [[Brigitte Bardot]] (played by herself in the film). His parents, played by [[James Stewart]] and [[Glynis Johns]], attempt to manage his obsession.<ref name="Dear Brigitte">{{cite web| last1=Mark Deming| first1=Mark| title=Dear Brigitte (1965)| url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/dear-brigitte-v12846| website=AllMovie| access-date=January 17, 2015}}</ref>

===''Lost in Space'' and beyond===
From 1965 to 1968, Mumy portrayed Will Robinson in ''[[Lost in Space]]'', the recipient of numerous warnings (including "Danger, Will Robinson") from the show's [[Robot B-9|robot character]], voiced by [[Dick Tufeld]].<ref name="Danger Will Robinson">{{cite news| last1=Noland| first1=Claire| title=Dick Tufeld dies at 85; actor who intoned 'Danger, Will Robinson!'| url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-jan-25-la-me-dick-tufeld-20120125-story.html| access-date=January 11, 2015| work=[[Los Angeles Times]]| date=January 25, 2012| quote=Besides warning young Will Robinson of impending danger, Tufeld's Robot uttered other lines that became catchphrases for faithful viewers — including "That does not compute" — and needled the antagonistic Dr. Zachary Smith with barbs like "Dr. Smith is a bubble-headed booby."}}</ref>

Mumy was later cast in ''[[Bless the Beasts and Children (film)|Bless the Beasts and Children]]'' (1971) as Teft, a leader in a group of misfit teenage boys resolved to save a herd of bison from hunters. He also played a musician friend of [[Cliff DeYoung]]'s character in the television film ''[[Sunshine (1973 film)|Sunshine]]'' (1973), later reprising the role in ''[[Sunshine Christmas]]'' and in the TV series ''[[Sunshine (American TV series)|Sunshine]]''. In 1974, Mumy played Nick Butler in the pilot episode of NBC's ''[[The Rockford Files]]'' and made an appearance in a later episode in season 1 as a sidewalk artist. In 1988, he played Ben Matlock's genius nephew, Dr. Irwin Bruckner, on ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]''.

In 1996, Mumy was a writer and co-creator of ''[[Space Cases]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=BOLLETTIERI|first=SPENCER|date=February 8, 2022|title=Before Prodigy, Nickelodeon Already Created Its Own Star Trek|url=https://screenrant.com/space-cases-nickelodeon-star-trek-prodigy-before/|website=Screen Rant}}</ref> a [[Nickelodeon]] television show with themes similar to those of ''Lost in Space''. Between 1994 and 1998, he played the ambassadorial aide [[Lennier]] in the syndicated science fiction series ''[[Babylon 5]]''. In November 1998, he played Kellin, a [[Starfleet]] officer, in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "[[The Siege of AR-558 (DS9 episode)|The Siege of AR-558]]", in which he assists in defeating a [[Jem'Hadar]] detachment. To Mumy's delight,<ref>{{cite interview|last=Mumy|first=Bill|interviewer=Amy Harrington|title=The Interviews: An Oral History of Television|work=The Television Academy Foundation's The Interviews|publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]]|location=North Hollywood|date=September 3, 2013|quote=YouTube title:Bill Mumy discusses appearing on 'Star Trek Deep Space Nine'}}</ref> his character was human this time due to makeup time and his distaste as being known as an "alien actor"; while playing [[Lennier]] in ''Babylon 5'', he was required to wear prosthetic makeup. Mumy later appeared in a 2006 episode of ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' and in the [[Syfy]] original film ''[[A.I. Assault]]''.<ref name="NYTimes bio">{{cite news| last1=Erickson| first1=Hal| title=Biography: Bill Mumy| url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/51302/Bill-Mumy/biography| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216035124/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/51302/Bill-Mumy/biography| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 16, 2015| department=Movies & TV Dept.| work=[[The New York Times]]| author-link=Hal Erickson (author)| date=2015| access-date=January 11, 2015}}</ref>

In 2018, Mumy appeared in the pilot episode of the [[Netflix]] remake series ''[[Lost in Space (2018 TV series)|Lost in Space]]''. His character's name is Dr. Z. Smith, in homage to the character played by [[Jonathan Harris]] in the 1965 television series.