Bill Mumy Looks Back on Child Stardom and How His Cult Classic 1978 Novelty Song 'Fish Heads' Came to Be

Charlotte PhillippSun, June 21, 2026 at 9:29 PM UTC

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Bill Mumy in 'Lost in Space;' Bill Mumy in 2018Credit: Screen Archives/Getty; Frazer Harrison/Getty -

Bill Mumy is taking a look back at his career, including everything from Lost in Space to "Fish Heads"

Mumy became a child star for his TV roles in The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and more

He credited his ability to avoid the pitfalls of child stardom to his love for music

Bill Mumy is taking a look back at his storied career — including everything from his time as a child star to the surprise success of "Fish Heads."

In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morningon June 14, Mumy, 72, reflected on his time starring on hit series as a kid, including Lost in Space (in which he played Will Robinson from 1965 to 1968), episodes of The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and more.

Remembering when he finished production on Lost in Space after three seasons, Mumy shared that he was devastated.

"I cried," he recalled. "I actually can remember sitting on the blue couch in our den, and putting my head in my mom's lap and her just kind of petting my head, going, 'That's showbiz, honey.' "

Bill Mumy.Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Despite the ending of his hit series, Mumy shared that he was able to avoid the pitfalls that so many child actors face by finding another creative outlet — and for him, it was music.

"There are a lot of child stars who had sad endings, and when that one experience of a long-running television show was over, they weren't treated special anymore, and they had to find out who they were," he said.

Mumy's love for music eventually led to even more success in the form of Barnes & Barnes, his quirky rock and novelty duo group with the late Robert Haimer. The pair is best known for their bizarre 1978 cult classic song, "Fish Heads."

According to the actor-musician, the quirky track — the music video for which was named No. 57 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 100 music videos of all time — came about when he and Haimer were "jamming together."

"We're making up funny songs because we both liked '50s horror comic books and the Three Stooges and that kind of stuff," he recalled. "And it's just a release of excess energy."

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"We went out to lunch, a restaurant on Pico Boulevard in West L.A. called Wan-Q, and we got a fish dish, and it came with the fish head on the plate kind of coiled up and giving you a little stare back before you got your knife out," Mumy shared. "And [Haimer] said, 'Roly poly fish heads. Let's eat them up. Yum.' "

The song, which Mumy described as having "a very primitive nursery rhyme kind of a melody," eventually made it to the recording studio. Although the success of the song was unexpected, Mumy said that it was a welcome surprise.

"You never know what's going to click with the audience, right?" he said. "I mean, you can have 300 songs that are very soulful and perhaps melodically interesting, and it's 'Fish Heads' that resonates and becomes locked in the ID of society for 40 years."

"'Fish Heads' has been very, very good to me," Mumy conceded. "'Fish Heads' has been very good. You know, it's been on The Simpsons. It's been a bunch of commercials. It's been in a lot of films. 'Fish Heads' has paid for a few vacations. 'Fish Heads' has definitely bought a few guitars."

According to Mumy, acting still holds a special place in his career, but music is where he eventually found his true passion.

"I don't want to diminish my enjoyment of acting," he told CBS. "I know the craft of acting and I'm comfortable whenever I do it. But if I'm not doing it, it's not like I go home and act. It's not like my wife Eileen and I sit around and do plays in the living room. But what I do do is, I play guitar and piano and music all the time."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”