Big A** Robots - Beyond Tiki

R robotiki Tiki Socialite Florida Joined: Jul 01, 2009 Posts: 223	R robotiki Posted posted on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 4:50 AM On 2009-07-09 04:23, TikiMango wrote: I had a chance to talk with the actor that was in the B9 suit, Bob May. He passed away earlier this year. He said the original suit was cast iron! Bob was a great talker at conventions. While he may have said the robot seemed like cast iron, it was actually fiberglass. He was a heavy smoker and would smoke inside the robot on breaks. He once almost got doused with water because the crew thought the damn thing was on fire. It was a shame he lost his home in the fires last year, I think that stress lead to his passing away. The reason Robby and the Lost in Space robot share some similarities is because they were designed by the same guy, Bob Kinoshita. In 2004 there was a retrospective of Kinoshita's work at the DeMille barn in Hollywood. I attended, along with a whole bunch of other robot nerds. Bob May was there with his stories, as was Kinoshita (90 years old then), and a bunch of other actors from Forbidden Planet. May would often tell the story of the time someone stepped on the cable that would pull the robot along, causing the whole thing to do a flip with him inside! Robotiki Mira Mar League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [ Edited by: robotiki 2009-07-09 04:51 ] [ Edited by: robotiki 2009-07-09 04:54 ]

On 2009-07-09 04:23, TikiMango wrote:
I had a chance to talk with the actor that was in the B9 suit, Bob May. He passed away earlier this year. He said the original suit was cast iron!

Bob was a great talker at conventions. While he may have said the robot seemed like cast iron, it was actually fiberglass. He was a heavy smoker and would smoke inside the robot on breaks. He once almost got doused with water because the crew thought the damn thing was on fire.

It was a shame he lost his home in the fires last year, I think that stress lead to his passing away.

The reason Robby and the Lost in Space robot share some similarities is because they were designed by the same guy, Bob Kinoshita. In 2004 there was a retrospective of Kinoshita's work at the DeMille barn in Hollywood. I attended, along with a whole bunch of other robot nerds. Bob May was there with his stories, as was Kinoshita (90 years old then), and a bunch of other actors from Forbidden Planet.

May would often tell the story of the time someone stepped on the cable that would pull the robot along, causing the whole thing to do a flip with him inside!

Robotiki
Mira Mar League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

[ Edited by: robotiki 2009-07-09 04:51 ]

[ Edited by: robotiki 2009-07-09 04:54 ]

Post #467808 by robotiki on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 4:50 AM