Updated

Updated · CBS New York · Jun 14

Bill Mumy, 72, Releases 'Will Power' as 'Lost in Space' Star Extends 60-Year Career

Updated

Updated · CBS New York · Jun 14

Bill Mumy, 72, Releases 'Will Power' as 'Lost in Space' Star Extends 60-Year Career

Q: Beyond family and music, what industry secret allowed Bill Mumy to thrive for over 60 years?

Bill Mumy’s key professional advantage was that he never confused fame with identity. He treated acting as a job and a skill, not as the core of who he was. That distinction—captured in his view that acting is “something he does” while music is “who he is”—helped him avoid a trap that derails many child stars. When a performer’s self-worth depends on roles, attention or celebrity treatment, the career’s ups and downs can become personally destabilizing. Mumy appears to have sidestepped that by knowing early on who he was outside the business. The reporting also suggests he developed a practical, workmanlike attitude very young. He was prolific, worked with major stars, and kept going after “Lost in Space” by shifting across acting, voice work and songwriting rather than relying only on childhood fame. That adaptability, combined with emotional distance from the industry’s glamour, gave him staying power. So beyond family and music, the “secret” was a grounded sense of self: he separated the profession from his identity, which let him keep working in entertainment for decades without being consumed by it.

2 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Jun 14

At 72, Bill Mumy has released a new album, "Will Power," while continuing to act and do voiceover work nearly six decades after "Lost in Space."
Music, which Mumy called central to his identity, has run alongside his screen career since childhood fame; he has performed with his own bands, toured with America and earned an Emmy songwriting nomination.
25 million viewers a week once watched Mumy as Will Robinson during "Lost in Space's" 1965-68 run, and he said the enduring "Danger, Will Robinson!" catchphrase still feels like a blessing.
Mumy said family, not fame, kept him grounded after child stardom faded, helping him avoid the turmoil that derailed many former young actors.