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Q: Are any of the actors in the 1964 TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" still living, and will there be a big-screen movie version some time soon?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

A film remake does seem likely, but so far there's no talk of one.

It would indeed be a "remake" though, as the TV series was actually based on an earlier film of the same name.

Of the four principal crew members of the submarine Seaview, which in the series was commissioned to investigate the many dangerous mysteries that lurk beneath the seas, two are still surviving and available for cameos.

David Hedison, who played Capt. Lee B. Crane, had his most recent role in 2004, spending the year starring on "The Young and the Restless" as Arthur Hendricks.

He's still doing TV-convention appearances, thanks to the game gleaned from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," as well as his role as Felix Leiter in two of the James Bond films (1973's "Live and Let Die" and 1989's "Licence to Kill").

According to his official Robert Dowdell fan website, the other surviving "Voyage" cast member retired from showbiz in the mid '90s. Dowdell played Lt. Cmdr. Chip Morton.

Richard Basehart, who played Adm. Harriman Nelson, died in 1984. It's not well-known, as he was never credited for it, but Basehart was the narrator of the intro of the classic early-'80s series "Knight Rider." The series aired, with Basehart's voice, until 1986, two years after his death.

Sadly, the fourth Seaview crew member, actor Delbert Monroe, died just this past summer. Monroe, who played Kowalski, was the only one who also starred in the 1961 film that launched the series.

"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was the longest-running series made by '60s sci-fi guru Irwin Allen. It ran for four years, from 1964 to 1968; that's a year longer than Allen's better-known series, "Lost in Space."

"Lost in Space" was remade for the big screen in 1998 and grossed $135 million," an estimated $55 million more than its budget, which of course serves to raise hopes for a new "Voyage" film. Three of the stars of the original "Lost in Space" series did cameo appearances in the film remake 30 years later.