The 1960s and ’70s were a turbulent time in myriad aspects for people all over the world. The United States was mired in a pointless war in Vietnam, while, at home, the nation’s young populace were taking to the streets to protest this conflict as well as to show support for the Civil Rights Movement, women’s equality, and other social/political causes. As often occurs during such highly contentious times, art got revolutionary and deeply weird.

Inspired by experimentation with consciousness-altering substances like marijuana and acid, artists in a variety of media explored psychedelia with gleefully reckless abandon. The Beatles recorded “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” Dennis Hopper made “Easy Rider,” and designers incorporated the loud, swirling colors of this creative movement into clothing and home fashions. Shag carpeting became a thing, and people dug it so much they put it on their walls. The whole world had gone groovy, and children’s entertainment would not be spared.

You didn’t have to be a wake-and-bake to roll out of bed on Saturday morning and sense something truly bizarre was happening on kid-skewing television. Turn on “The Banana Splits,” and you’d be treated to the adventures of four costumed weirdos who lived in an acid trip and played rock music on the side. Then there was “H.R. Pufnstuff,” the bizarro brainchild of Sid and Marty Kroft that thrust a shipwrecked human boy into an island populated by a kindly dragon, a singing frog, and a talking flute.

Compared to “H.R. Pufnstuff,” the Krofts’ “Land of the Lost” was a docudrama. For three seasons between 1974 and 1976, the sci-fi/adventure series followed the adventure of the Marshalls, a family of three whose camping trip turns into a strange interdimensional journey when they take a ride down the wrong waterfall. As the Marshalls try to find their way back home, they encounter beasts both friendly (the Pakuni) and hostile (Sleestaks) while trying to not get eaten by stop-motion dinosaurs. The show still stands as the Krofts’ most popular creation (it even spawned a big screen, unjustly maligned flop starring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride), which means its analog charms have been shared with multiple generations of children. 

Given that it’s been off the air for nearly 50 years, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that much of the main cast has since died. But three “Land of the Lost” stars are still very much with us! Let’s show them some Pakuni love!

After studying acting for several years at the American Shakespeaare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut, Wesley Eure landed two big breaks in 1974 by being cast as Mike Horton on the NBC soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and, of course, as 16-year-old Will Marshall on “Land of the Lost.” The latter gig was something of a surprise for Eure, as he was 23 at the time and playing an actual adult on the former, but he fit right in with Spencer Milligan (who played papa Rick Marshall, and passed away in 2024 at the age of 86) and Kathy Coleman (as sister Holly Marshall).

Though Eure is probably still best known for his portrayal of Will Marshall, he’s certainly kept himself busy over the last 49 years. He was nearly cast as David Cassidy’s replacement in “The Partridge Family,” and made a gruesome impression on horror fans as the disturbed Kent Kingsley in Dennis Donnelly’s cult slasher classic “The Toolbox Murders.” Eure was also a regular celebrity guest on the NBC game show “Password Plus” between 1979 and 1981, and went on to host the first two seasons of the Nickelodeon game show “Finders Keepers.” Then, starting in 1999, he served as a writer, developer and creative producer on the animated PBS series “Dragon Tales.” Eure’s last credited performance in a feature film was 2016’s “Sins of Our Youth.” 

While Eure has received credits on reality and talk shows over the last decade, it seems as though the 73-year-old performer has eased back on acting roles. Outside of acting, however, he has been very active in numerous HIV/AIDS causes and fund raisers.

Unlike Wesley Eure, Kathy Coleman was close to the age of her character Holly Marshall in real life when she joined the cast of “Land of the Lost” in 1974. Born in 1962, this was Coleman’s first major acting gig (after appearing in numerous commercials), and it turned out to be one of the few she’d book throughout her career. Aside from appearing in one episode of the NBC cop drama “Adam-12” in 1975, Coleman has done very little television and film performing over the last 50 years. She got married at age 18 in 1980, and had two children before divorcing her husband in 1987.

In a 2019 interview with Fox News, Coleman put to rest any fears that she’d experienced burnout from her years as a child actor. Though she acknowledged that her divorce was “really rough,” she was quick to stress that she’s very happy with her life today. Coleman did appear in three episodes of an independently produced TV series titled “Fault” in 2021, but she hasn’t followed that up with anything performance-wise over the last four years. If, however, you’re curious to learn more about the former Holly Marshall, you can read her memoir “Lost Girl: The Truth and Nothing But the Truth, So Help Me Kathleen” and her “Land of the Lost” memoir “Run, Holly, Run.”

Born in 1963, Phillip Paley was the baby of the “Land of the Lost” set when he was cast as the Marshall’s Punaki sidekick Cha-Ka. Coated in fur and sporting that distinctive unibrow, Paley’s Cha-Ka was a resourceful member of the Marshall unit; after all, he knew the lay of the land and had plenty of experience dodging hungry dinos and those insidious Sleestaks. (The character was less helpful as played by Jorma Taccone in the 2009 “Land of the Lost” movie adaptation.)

Though millions of 1970s and ’80s couch potatoes could identify Cha-Ka on sight, they likely wouldn’t be able to pick an un-made-up Paley out of a lineup. If you think other showbiz kids in Hollywood might’ve been prone to giving Paley a hard time for playing Cha-Ka, I’d advise you to think again: the lad held a black belt in karate at age nine, and appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in 1973 to strut his stuff alongside his teacher Chuck Norris. Nobody was messing with young Mr. Paley. 

As for what the actor’s been up to since “Land of the Lost” ended in 1976, the answer would be “not acting.” He guest starred on an episode of “Airwolf” in 1985 and was cast as the lead in the Roger Corman-produced sex comedy “Beach Balls” three years later. However, aside from a uncredited turn in a 2020 animated feature titled “The Last Page of Summer,” Paley has been completely retired from acting for years.