Marta Kristen: Our Journey with Judy Robinson from Lost in Space

Marta Kristen was a rising young actress when she reluctantly agreed to play Judy Robinson in Lost in Space. By that point, Marta had already co-stared in two of the most iconic stories to ever air on television. Plus, she had just taken a watery turn in one of the most frolicsome films to ever crest a wave. Little did we know that the intergalactic beauty started her own life’s journey, in an orphanage in Norway. Or that, at eighty, she is joining an estimated 180,000 California fire victims as they endeavor to start over. We caught up with Marta this week – just hours before she boarded a flight east for a Lost in Space 60th Anniversary Celebration. Fans can catch her too, up in Carlisle, PA – provided that Dr. Smith hasn’t monkeyed with the controls of their chariot.

BPE: Before we begin, may I ask how Judy Robinson ended up behind the wheel of The General Lee?

Marta: Oh, that picture was from a small show I did in Detroit a few years ago. I always like going back to Michigan, because that is where I was raised. It was a relatively small show, and I was hoping to see some of my friends there, but it was little bit far for them to go, I guess. I love being back in Michigan in the Fall and seeing the leaves beginning to change. There’s nothing much like that here in southern California.

BPE: I don’t mean to segue abruptly from your pleasant Michigan memories to a personal tragedy, but since you mentioned California, I just learned today that you lost your home in the Palisades fire. Then, when I contacted your agent (Laurie Jacobson) to confirm our interview time, Laurie informed me that both your daughter and your granddaughter lost their homes in the fires as well. Do you feel comfortable at this point sharing anything about that experience with our readers?

Marta: Well, after my husband died, I thought I could never, ever feel that kind of grief again. But this was a different kind of grief. It was a kind of displacement. I was adopted, and the fire became part of that story of having to translate everything.

BPE: How so?

Marta: I was from Norway, and I was five when I came to America. Learning a whole other language was interesting and challenging, of course, but there was the loss. I lost everything I’d known then, because at least the orphanage was a place that was familiar to me. Then, all of a sudden, this new country, new language, and new people, who said they were my parents.

So, losing everything in the fire brought me back to those beginnings. And I sort of tease myself about it, when I’m actually trying to get some money from FEMA or other organizations. I say, ‘Well, I lost everything in the fire,’ and then I stop myself from adding, ‘and I’m from an orphanage.’ It sounds a bit like Oliver Twist, but you know, I went back to that.

It’s been a struggle, and it was riddled with PTSD.

BPE: Compounding all of this, wasn’t your orphanage experience interlocked with World War II? Not to the fighting, but in the same way as Anni-Frid Lyngstad from ABBA, whose biological father was also a German soldier, who was part of the Nazi occupation of Norway?

Marta: Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that about Frida! It would be so interesting to talk with her about that, because in the orphanage, when the kids found out I couldn’t be adopted in Norway because of my German heritage, they called me a Nazi child. The woman who ran all of the social programs there and helped find homes for the children, tried very hard to have me adopted out. Finally, they heard from Harold and Bertha Soderquist – an older couple from Michigan – but it took two years for me to be adopted and come to the United States.

You know, the Germans were just horrific to the Norwegians. They actually kidnapped children and sent them to Lebensborn in Germany. Hitler’s ideal race was Aryan, and what better than the blue-eyed blonde children of the Norwegians and the Swedes? Anyway, I think the experience toughened me up.

BPE: How on earth does one move on from such dual nightmares?

Marta: I once read an essay that Ernest Hemingway had written about grief. I believe it was a eulogy that he was giving for a friend, but he was really talking to the people who were at the funeral, saying we all experience grief in our own way; that if people tell you one thing, and others tell you another, only you can manage it and only you are the one who can say quietly to yourself, “It’s okay, go forward. Just go forward. You can do it.” And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. It’s been a struggle.

BPE: Are you looking to rebuild in the same area, or are you thinking about going somewhere else?

Marta: My late husband (Elder Rights Attorney, Kevin P. Kane) built a house in Santa Monica Canyon, and I lived there for over 40 years. When he died, I moved to the mobile home park where Kevin and I placed my parents, after they had served in the Peace Corps. In fact, Barbara Corcoran lived there, as did Jennifer Grey. My wonderful neighbor (Australian actor) Vernon Wells, and some really amazing artists, photographers and actors were also residents. There was even a 100-year-old woman who was a champion ping pong player – and still playing ping pong! It was a community, and that’s what I needed after my husband died.

I sold a lot of my things from the canyon house but took everything that was the most significant for me, and I settled in. I was there six years, and I loved everybody. Then suddenly, everything else is gone. I reach for things, and they’re not there. But again, as Ernest Hemingway said, I put one foot in front of the other, and when I get really dark, I will call someone and talk. I have a beau, after nine years of being single. His name is Bob Ginsberg – no relation to Ruth Bader or Alan Ginsberg – and he runs retreat groups around the country. It’s something that he and his late wife started, after he lost his daughter in a car accident. And so, now, I’m in this wonderful relationship; something that I never, ever thought would happen again. Bob is from Brooklyn, by the way, so I’m learning to speak Brooklynese!

BPE: That’s terrific news about Bob. I’ve often heard it said that you sometimes have to hit rock bottom before you can start to pull yourself up and see the light.

Marta: Oh, I absolutely hit rock bottom once, and I wanted to die. I called my daughters, and they in turn called Bob. Bob immediately flew in from Florida and helped me, but it was rock bottom. And I said, ‘I will never, ever allow myself to feel that way again.’

BPE: Your determination to survive sounds a lot like what I witnessed from people I met in New Orleans after Katrina. I had a chance to go there twice with church friends, as part of a rebuilding mission, and I traveled there as a reporter to chronicle some of the progress in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Marta: I’m glad you mentioned your church friends. I’ve always had a strong belief in God. Don’t know why. Maybe I was told by Tanta Marta that God is always with me and I’m never alone. And you know, maybe I just carried that with me, but that helps soothe my savage beast and the longing I’ve experienced.

I have written a children’s story titled, Birgit’s Dream. I had just finished the mock book, but I hadn’t backed it up, and it burned in the fire, so I had to start over. At least, I took photos of a lot of my drawings, and I have the story.

I don’t want to get political, but when I read Jacob Soboroff’s book Separation, I was appalled and felt this deep anxiety and hurt for these children – I think 2500 or so – who were separated from their parents and will never see them again. So I said, ‘I’m going to write a story about that.’

The story is about a little girl named Birgit – that was my birth name – who finds a beautiful home in a dream. My adoptive parents were just so wonderful. They were both educators, and were in their early 50s, when I came to America. They had already gone through their 20s, 30s and 40s establishing themselves. Anyway, that’s all an aside. But yeah, I’ve been so busy trying to settle in my little apartment in Venice, but I’m almost there.

BPE: You’re going to be in here on the East Coast this weekend for a Lost in Space 60th Anniversary Celebration. Looking at the flier, it appears the organizers are pulling out all the stops for this one.

Marta: Yeah, it’s going to be quite fun. And the B9 Robot Club will be there!

BPE: I didn’t know there was a B9 Robot Club.

Marta: There is, and they’re all my buddies. They take care of me. It’s so sweet, and they’re so kind. They make sure I’ve got the ride to and from the airport and that I’m comfortable; that I’ve got food in my room. They’re just amazing guys. And they come from all different walks of life. One is a farmer, one is an orchestra leader. One is, well, he’s retired, but he was a teacher. I mean they’re just amazing people and I feel so loved by them.

BPE: When I initially saw the ads for this weekend’s convention, the first thing that went through my mind was, ‘I can’t believe that Lost in Space premiered 60 years ago.’ Then it hit me that, like millions of other kids, I watched the first episode! The worst part of that memory is that I was in the youth choir at my church back then, and we had a 6:00pm Thursday call. So, when CBS switched Lost in Space from Wednesday to Thursday nights, I invariably missed the opening scenes of every show. Other kids would talk about the opening, but I was clueless. Hence, I really resented being in the youth choir, because I wanted to be home watching Lost in Space.

Marta: Oh, my God, that’s a vivid memory! But that’s what I encounter when I come to these wonderful conventions. You know, some people characterize actors going to these conventions as ‘has-beens.’ And sadly, some people in show business treat their fans negatively because of that. But I love to engage with people. I think that’s because I get as much – or actually more – from the fans than what I give to them.

Everybody has a story, and everyone’s story is different. But we all have things in common. We feel joy, and we feel pain. We feel lonely, and we feel love. That commonality is what an actor brings to a role; trying to find that backstory in the person that they are playing.

Years ago, I started a theater company called West Coast Ensemble. You probably have it in my bio – it was voted the best small theater company in Los Angeles by NPR. I was always trying to find material; always searching for the humanity in a story. The unlocking of a secret that people carry. It’s not always overt, but it’s there and everybody has it.

BPE: It’s been said that Loretta Young would stand in the wings before going on stage and kind of peer out at the audience and quietly repeat, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ Loretta meant it, because she knew that the reason she was able to endure as a star the way she did was because she had these adoring fans who would faithfully come to see her shows.

Marta: Yes ~ I do the same thing. And it’s amazing that you say that, because I used to lector at my church. I say I used to, but I’m going back to St. Monica’s, once things here have settled. But I lectored for years and I would always say to myself, before I went up to read scripture, “I love you. I love you.” And, you know, when I’d get up there, people would actually listen. I wasn’t dramatic at all. I just told the story, and it’s the same thing. Say, ‘I love you’ and people will listen. People will hear you. It’s extraordinary.

Ingrid Bergman said that she filled herself with light before she got on camera, and you could see it.

BPE: Indeed! Talk about someone who absolutely illuminated on screen.

Marta: That’s right. Every actor has a way of reaching out. And some actors hold everything in. I like watching Joaquin Phoenix. He’s quirky, and the sort who doesn’t care about what people think. Actors actually can’t care about it, because then they can’t act. But he’s a little bit like a puppy dog. He’s so open, and he’s just who he is.

People think, ‘Oh, acting, anybody can do it.’ My boorish first husband used to say that to me.

But acting is a great skill, and if you’re allowed to do it – if you have the opportunity to do it – you’re a very lucky person.

By the way, if you hear some coughing, it’s my old dog. She’s like 15 years old, and she has an enlarged heart. She licks my ankles because she’s now on a little bit of codeine. So by licking my ankle, she’s just saying, ‘Okay, it’s codeine time.’

I’m her drug dealer.

BPE: I agree that acting is a skill, and on Lost in Space, you had a chance to work with a very talented cast. Guy Williams and June Lockhart were both established, well-respected performers. The show also featured two of the best child actors ever, in Angela Cartwright and Billy Mumy. Jonathan Harris was recognizable from his droll character Mr Phillips on the Bill Dana Show…

Marta: And don’t forget Mark Goddard had been in The Detective and Johnny Ringo! Everybody had quite a resume.

BPE: And you had played a mermaid?

Marta: (laughing) Oh, I had done much more than that!

BPE: Yes, we know. But I have to ask you about Beach Blanket Bingo?

Marta: Yeah, I played Lorelei – which is based on the mythological woman who watches over people as they travel. It was fun. I’m a real outdoors person, a big time swimmer – and what’s a more natural thing for me to do than play a mermaid?

BPE: With Jody McCrea mooning over you?

Marta: That’s right! And I loved being with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Plus, I knew the famous surfers from the beach – Johnny Fain and Mickey Dora. They were sort of their own rat pack. It was fun, and I loved being outside – even though we shot the movie in November. It was very cold in the water.

BPE: That’s not exactly beach blanket weather, is it?

Marta: No, it wasn’t; but then, the beaches were all empty. But Beach Blanket Bingo was sort of the penultimate beach movie. Everybody was dancing on the beach and playing, and the biker guys were lurking in the background.

BPE: And so was Buster Keaton?

Marta: Oh my God – Buster Keaton! For me, just working with Buster Keaton was enough. Just the idea of being with the great Buster Keaton, who started in the film world in the early years. An actual legend. That was quite remarkable. Not many people today – even my age – can say they worked with Buster Keaton.

BPE: You had done other things before then, like the Alfred Hitchcock Presents story ‘Bang, You’re Dead’ with Bill Mumy, and a Leave It to Beaver episode as Eddie Haskell’s girlfriend?

Marta: I also did The Greatest Show on Earth with Jack Palance, and the first two-parter on television with Tony Dow – Dr. Kildare’s ‘The Eleventh Hour’ about teen pregnancy and teen parenting. That was remarkable for its time – 1964. It was a show which really laid bare the reality of still being a child and having children.

I’ve also done theatre since I was a kid and have continued to do theatre all of my life. My point is, I’m not just one thing – I’m many. And part of that is being a very serious actor.

BPE: Given your professionalism as an actor, I’ve always wondered how Lost in Space was pitched to you? Was the romantic relationship with Mark slated to be fleshed out? Did you have any idea what Irwin Allen and the writers ultimately wanted to do with Judy Robinson?

Marta: To be honest, I did not want to do the show. I’m a theater actor, and my dream was to go to New York. But my agent said, ‘Look, this is a show that you might as well go and interview for. Allen saw you on The Greatest Show on Earth, and he’s very interested.’ I said, ‘Well, I really don’t know,’ but I finally relented. Irwin immediately told my agent ‘I want her’ but I insisted that I didn’t want to do it, because it was going to be ‘a lineup.’

I’d been in the business long enough to know that. You line up the cast and you do two shots; maybe you have a single. But Irwin called me several times – very sweetly – and said, ‘You have to do it. You have to do it.’

I just felt that there were other things I wanted to accomplish. Then people were saying, ‘Are you crazy? That’s the dream of everyone, to be in a television series.’ So I began to think about it, and I talked with Irwin and said, ‘Okay, well, just give me some story lines about what you’re planning for me.’ He replied, ‘Well, you know, you’re an actress and you’ve given up the theater for the unknown of space.’

That should have been a red flag, right there. My first husband promised me the world, and he was crazy.

But I thought, ‘OK, I can work with that. Maybe they can give me some comedic things to do.’

Even as a kid, I was walking around playing Lady Macbeth. So, I figured that I could bring that aspect to Judy, in that way. And there would be this love relationship between Mark and myself. We would probably get married on the show and have a child. Irwin gave me all these story lines – the various scenarios that he saw for Mark and myself, so I began to think, ‘You know, this could be something that will be good.’ I made the decision to do it, and I’ve never regretted that decision. It pigeonholed me, but that’s all right. I’m still remembered for playing Judy Robinson, and the B9 Club loves me.

Plus, I was ‘every young boy’s dream’ (laughing) or so they always tell me. So it’s okay. I’m not bitter at all about about making that decision. You think if you go in one door, you can’t go in another. But I did eventually go into other doors. In fact, I remember driving my little square back VW to the studio – thinking about where I came from, and now going to 20th Century Fox to do a television series; the first Sci-fi Adventure Family series. I thought, ‘You know what, Marta? This is a good thing. It’s a good thing. It’s a good decision you made.’

And I just went with that.

Even when it became the Robot and Will and Dr Smith show, I was amused a lot of times. I was amused by the script, and I would go up to Irwin’s office and I’d say, ‘Irwin, remember what you promised?’ And he’d say, ‘Oh yeah, next week, next week.’ Of course, ‘next week’ didn’t happen. Irwin was busy with other shows. But for me, it was quite an experience.

After the show ended, I had interviews and auditions for other shows, but I just wasn’t interested. I wanted to quit for a while, and I did – I had had it.

A short time later, I had a daughter, and all of a sudden, I recognized I’d never known what real love was. And that was it. Boy, that was an eye opener for me.

BPE: You made a decision, at a pivotal part of your career, that a lot of other actresses might not have embraced – to choose motherhood over the next starring role?

Marta: Oh, yes, because I had never known that kind of love. Of course, you don’t know that, I guess, until you’re a parent. But it was extraordinary. I just relished it – especially after going through a bad divorce.

BPE: Well, from what I’ve heard, it sounds like eventually you met a wonderful, loving and trustworthy man in your second husband, Kevin.

Marta: Oh, my God, yes. We were together for 43 years. He was both my soulmate – and difficult. He was an Irish Catholic, who came up from nothing and got a scholarship to Harvard Law School. When he told his mother he got into Harvard, she said, ‘That’s not an Irish school.’ He replied, ‘It is because, Ma, it’s Harvard!’

Kevin started in antitrust and worked for a huge law firm. They gave him these very important assignments in antitrust, because he was brilliant. But then, he decided to work with Public Counsel and did pro bono work. That became his passion. He ended up being a plaintiff’s elder abuse attorney for poor people. That was the hardest thing. I had to pull him out of this pain, because they became family to him. He saw the worst of the worst. He saw people being kicked out of the nursing homes, because the home gave their bed to somebody else while they were away in the hospital, and they had no place to go. They were on the sidewalk, and they were beaten, starved or dehydrated to death. I mean, he was dealing with that all the time. We weren’t rich in money but were rich in important ways. Kevin would always say, ‘I was born to do this,’ and he would just grit his teeth and move forward.

And he was brilliant.

He fought for the right of patients to their bed in a nursing home and argued that it was their property, and a nursing home couldn’t take away that property. An appellate court agreed with Kevin and made it a federal law.

I’d like to repeat his name – Kevin Kane – because he really was just this amazing individual who fought very hard to change the law for elders. And I miss him every day.

It’s funny, because I never thought I could love somebody else. Thich Nhat Hanh – a wonderful Buddhist monk – said when someone dies, they’re in one room, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find another room for somebody else. A lot of people say, ‘No, no, it’ll never happen,’ and I said that too. But then, when I met Bob, I found a similar kind of character – an honorable character. Oh – I’m not talking about show biz very much.

BPE: Please don’t apologize. The idea of reaching out to you was in part to help promote your appearance in Carlisle. But I tend to approach interviews like this through the eyes of a fan who might like to know a little bit more about the person behind Judy Robinson. You’ve been very open, and I really appreciate that, because there’s so much more to Marta Kristen than just this knockout blonde that everybody had a crush on in the 1960s.

Marta: Well, thank you! I think I’m aging pretty well. Tell everybody, all women and men, that they should lift weights. I’ve lifted weights since I was 18. And be active and whisper to yourself, ‘You can do it.’ Put one foot in front of the other and have faith. Have faith in the universe. It doesn’t have to be the Christian God Jesus, even though that’s what I believe in. It can just be belief that there’s this amazing universe out there, and we’re all part of it. That’s why I enjoy these conventions, because I feel the oneness.

You know, when I hold my dog and carry her around, she falls asleep in my arms. I feel great love, and she’s so old, but she feels that love. Everybody feels love that way. Oh, I’m getting emotional. I don’t know how long she has, but I’m giving her all the love I can. And I think that’s her at my heels right now, looking for her codeine.

 

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BLAST OFF TO THE ULTIMATE “LOST IN SPACE” TRIBUTE 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!

Featuring Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson), Ron Gross (Artist & Author), Michael Panzarotto (Actor Impersonator), Dan Monroe (Movies, Music & Monsters), and The Jupiter Experience!

The Jupiter Experience features a full size recreation of the original Jupiter 2 Flight Deck from the original Lost in Space TV Show. The flight deck is fully automated with lights and sound. A fully animated-lighted recreation of the B9 Robot is also displayed!

Also featured is the largest collection of screen used props and costumes from the series. The original props include: Space Helmet worn by June Lockhart and Warren Oates; Roman Helmet worn by Jonathan Harris and also used in Time Tunnel and Star Trek; 2 Original Costumes from 3rd Season “Promised Planet” episode; Original Control Replicator Box also used in Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Batman 66 (Bat Cave). Featured with the display is a massive four-foot filming model of the Jupiter 2. A replica space suit, helmet, laser pistols, rifles and assorted props are also part of the collection.

The costumes of Lost in Space: 2nd season costume replicas are also presented. The 1960’s Toys of Lost in Space are also part of the collection!

All this and more at Carlisle, Pennsylvania’s premier comic & pop culture convention!

Enjoy free parking, great food, amazing guests & vendors; with an ATM on site!

For your convenience, advance discounted admission tickets are currently available online at www.CarlisleComicCon.com

Tickets will also be available for sale at the door!

The Epic Conclusion begins on Friday & Saturday, October 17 & 18, 2025, at the Carlisle Expo Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania!