Marta Kristen

Marta Kristen
As Judy Robinson in Lost in Space 1965
Born Birgit Annalisa Rusanen
(1945-02-26) February 26, 1945
Oslo, Norway
Occupation Actress
Years active 1960–present
Spouse(s) Terry Treadwell (1964-1973) (divorced) (1 child)
Kevin Kane (1974-2016, his death)
Children Lora (b. 1969)
Website http://www.martakristen.com

Marta Kristen (born February 26, 1945) is a Norwegian-born American actress.

Kristen is best known for her role as Judy Robinson, one of Professor John and Maureen Robinson's daughters, in the television series Lost in Space (1965–1968). Marta played the part of the space family's eldest child, a mature "20-something woman" near the age group of the space pilot, played by Mark Goddard. Her mature role allowed adult form-fitting fashions and hairstyles, as shown in publicity photos of the TV series.

Early life

Kristen was born Birgit Annalisa Rusanen in Oslo, Norway, to a Finnish mother and a German soldier father who was killed during World War II. She spent her first years in an orphanage in Norway,[1] and then was adopted in 1949 by an American couple from Detroit, Michigan, Harold Oliver Soderquist,[2] and Bertha[3] and renamed her Martha Annalise Soderquist. Her foster father was a professor of education at Wayne University, Detroit.[4][5] Marta also has an adopted brother whom her foster parents adopted later.[6]

Later, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her family in 1959 when her father was on a sabbatical. Marta remained there, with a guardian, and is graduate of Santa Monica High School.[4]

Career

Reflecting her Scandinavian heritage, she adopted the more European-sounding "Marta" and used Marta Kristen as her stage name.[3] She first appeared in a 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Bang! You're Dead", alongside Billy Mumy, who later co-starred with Kristen in Lost in Space. Her first successful film role was that of Lorelei in the 1965 movie Beach Blanket Bingo. She later starred in Lost in Space and made numerous guest appearances on television shows. When her daughter was born in 1969, she began making television commercials and eventually appeared in more than 40. She also made the occasional film appearance in movies such as Terminal Island (1973) and the cult science-fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). She starred in the 1998 television movie Lost in Space Forever and had a cameo role in the 1998 movie Lost in Space. She also appeared in the A&E biography Jonathan Harris, Never Fear, Smith Is Here in 2002. Kristen also provided voice work for the 2009 animated theatrical short "The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas" which also included voice work from her Lost in Space co-stars Harris, Mumy, and Angela Cartwright.

Personal life

A photo of Marta Kristen in 2018.
Marta Kristen in 2018

Kristen has a daughter and granddaughter. On a trip to Finland in 1969, while still pregnant with her daughter Lora, she located her birth mother, Helmi Rusanen, and an older half-sister, and in 1997 she discovered a brother residing in Australia.

Kristen was married twice. Her first marriage was to Terry Treadwell, a psychologist,[7][8][6] between 1964 and 1973,[9][10] with whom she had a daughter named Lora Alison Treadwell.[11] She met her second husband, Kevin Kane, in 1974 and they married on 18 November 1978.[12] Her husband and she lived in Santa Monica, California, with two rescue dogs.[13]

In May 2016, Kristen announced on her Facebook page that her husband Kevin Kane had died.[14]


References

  1. ↑ Mad Bros Media (2015-08-15), LOST IN SPACE 50th Anniversary Interview FEATURING MARK GODDARD & MARTA KRISTEN, 4th GalactiCon, Seattle 2015, retrieved 2017-09-08
  2. ↑ "University of Minnesota COMMENCEMENT CONVOCATION WINTER QUARTER" (PDF). p. 45.
  3. 1 2 "Elokuva-Aitta 16". martakristen.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  4. 1 2 "Norwegian Cinderella". martakristen.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  5. ↑ Soderquist, Harold (1954-01-01). "PERSONALISTIC NATURALISM AND THE ENDS OF EDUCATION". Educational Theory. 4 (1): 49–53. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1954.tb01080.x. ISSN 1741-5446.
  6. 1 2 "TV Picture Life - November 1966". martakristen.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  7. ↑ "IN Magazine For the Girl of Today". martakristen.com. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  8. ↑ DRG. "Movieland". martakristen.com. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  9. ↑ "Nevada, Marriage Index, 1956-2005".
  10. ↑ "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984".
  11. ↑ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995".
  12. ↑ "California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985".
  13. ↑ Beifuss, John (March 22, 2012). "'Lost in Space' duo remember '60s sci-fi at MidSouthCon 30". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Marta Kristen". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
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