The Robinson Robot is arguably the most famous and recognisable robot this world has ever seen, forever immortalised as the one and only Bubble headed Booby.

Bob May was the actor inside the robot responsible for his personality, actions and movements.

Interview by Glenn Ware
Pictures courtesy Bob May & Kevin Burns

Bob: They were Mr Novak, No Time for Sergeants, Dr Kildare (I played a doctor in that one) and I was a marine in The Lieutenant for Gene Roddenbery.

G: What I'd like to you to do now is to get you to reflect on some episodes of Lost in Space, and see if you can remember any incidents about them

B: Yeah, I recall My Friend Mr Nobody.. that's the first time I said to Stu Moody, "Is it safe?" and Jonathan said, "I already asked him that." That I can remember. Let me go through a few of the episodes if I may, that really stick in my mind. June Lockhart talks of the The Great Vegetable Rebellion ... she had fun with that. It was crazy, (laughs) ... but we all had fun with it, that was the main thing. My favourite of all the episodes was Junkyard In Space. I love it, I will always love it.

There were other ones ... I enjoyed the one that had the zoo owner, and I had to fight the armoured man in the ring (A Day at The Zoo). That I did in the Bermuda shorts, and that was fun. There were two episodes where they brought Robby the Robot in. What I'm gonna tell you right now I've always said for humour purposes. As we know, when we film a motion picture or a television show, you don't necessarily film the first scene then the second scene then the third scene and there on.

You may film the last scene first, and then go and catch the beginning later on and things of this nature. Well, I always tell people that Mr Allen always let me beat up Robby the Robot to give me confidence to go on for the next few days! Robby was in a motion picture [called Forbidden Planet] out at MGM Studios. We used him as our 'alien' robot. Magnificent. Bob [Kinoshita] is the one that designed him as I mentioned earlier. That robot could walk, but it couldn't hold a candle to our Robot, and we proved it by knocking it off twice! (laughs).

G: Another guest star I'd like to mention is Albert Salmi, when he appeared as The Sky Pirate. Can you tell us about him?

B: Albert Salmi - brilliant actor, did a lot of Westerns, a lot of tough parts. He had that parrot on his shoulder. That was quite interesting. We had fun ... we were friends before that show. I'm sorry he's gone now and the way he and his wife died. I'm very sorry for his family.

There was one episode ... Rocket to Earth, (you just kicked it back in my memory and I thank you for this) ... Al Lewis ... was on the show, and he had a puppet, similar to a Charlie McCarthy doll. Well there was a big vase that they had on the set. I'm inside the vase, we had the Robot's arms locked in place ... I had an extension cord with the button for the light for the Robot inside the vase, and I'm also working the dummy at the same time and talking as the dummy. Dick Tufeld didn't dub my voice on the dummy. But I did that part as well as the Robot in that episode. That was exhausting!

G: There is another episode I'd like to reflect on, do you remember The Android Machine with Fritz Feld?

B: Oh Fritz! (laughs) Yes I can. I go back with Fritz many, many, many years. Way before Lost In Space, and he was a very dear friend of Jerry Lewis. He worked in most of Jerry Lewis' films. He had a thing where he took his hand and made 'pops' ... (laughs) and he was great. Fritz was nothing but fun to work with.

G: There's one episode I'd really like to bring up, and that was called Wreck Of The Robot, where the Robot was taken apart by three sinister aliens. There was one hilarious scene where Mark Goddard took the bubble head and imitated the robot's voice.

B: Oh yeah, well Mark actually, if I recall right, adlibbed that ... and it was so good we kept it in! (laughs)

G: Were you watching Lost In Space every Wednesday night on CBS on its first run?

B: Oh sure! Sure! Also, there were other episodes that were crazy... where the Robot was dressed up as a girl and Jonathan Harris wore a cape and he had a moustache and we were doing the 'sinister' bit in The Galaxy Gift. I was glad they didn't tie me down to the railroad tracks! But they were fun times.

G: The Robot was never credited. Why did you think that your credit was not disclosed on the show?

B: Well let me explain that, that's very very simple to answer. In the old Screen Actors Guild contract, it was at the discretion of the Producer unless it was in your contract. I did not have it in my contract, and Mr Allen felt that he wanted to keep it a secret, which was his discretion. Today, the SAG contract says that everybody must get credit. I did a supporting lead opposite Simon Oakland, on a Mr Novak show entitled 'With a Hammer in his Hand, Lord' and my agent fouled up and didn't get it. So as a supporting actor in a big show - and I did the part, and I also did my own fight scenes - didn't get credit. It hurts to a certain degree, because you have pride in your work and you want people to know who you are. But the main thing is you are performing and you are acting. You are only acting when you are acting, otherwise you're just unemployed.

G: However, when TV Guide let the cat out of the bag ...

B: Thankyou!!

G: .. and let audiences know it was you, did the fan mail start coming in?

B: First of all I'm gonna say "Thankyou, TV Guide! " TV Guide, I love you! TV Guide was there. TV Guide I'm truly indebted to and I thank them publicly. Yes, they broke the news, and yes, the mail started coming in. But most importantly with my name in print for doing the part. Then generations will know - later generations, like my grandchildren - will know. Yeah, that's where it counts.

G: Bob, Jonathan told us that on the set you entertained guests, and both of you had a routine that you would go through to entertain the many visitors...

B: Many, many visitors. We would do this routine, Jonathan and 1, and we had fun doing it. I remember Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme coming on the set and they brought their kids on the set, and Jonathan said, "Steve and Eydie would like you to get in Robot - would you do it Bob?" I said, "Sure!" I mean, how do you turn down Steve and Eydie? You don't. They brought their kids over and Jonathan and I entertained them.

Then the famous stories of all stories ... I believe it was UCLA that brought their football team and their coach to the set, and this was before the Rose Bowl. They were going to play SC. Oh, I'm clowning around and I'm talking to them and their cheer-leaders and their coaches and everything, having a great old time. Then one of the coaches turned around and asked for a prediction from the Robot.

Well I spun the Robot around, came back with a score that I just pulled out of the top of my head, 'coz I had to say something ... and it turned out to be the actual score, which is amazing! But we all laughed about it and kidded about it and they sent me a letter and said they wanted me with them in the Rose Parade the next year and the whole thing. But that never transpired because of insurance purposes in the Rose Parade.

There wasn't somebody that came on the set that we didn't take the time - if we weren't shooting - that Jonathan would come out and I'd come out and we'd go into our routine with them and have some fun. Then again, this was because Jonathan worked the live theatre. I worked live theatre. So we could ad-lib, and it was all fun!

G: Bob, I know you kept it a secret for a long time, and I hope you'll break it with us, but how did the Robot actually turn 360 degrees?

B: You want me to break a secret ... a secret that Mr Allen didn't even know! Well I'll tell you. My arms were out, and there I was yelling 'Warning', and the Robot would spin. Now logically you know I can't have my arms in there because they would break.

Well I used to dance. I was a jazz dancer. I pulled in my arms the same way as a dancer would bring in his arms for a turn. I'd bring my arms in and at the same time I'd spin the top, and I'd have to move my body in a certain way so when the top came around I was able to have the timing to stick my arms back on out, into the arms of the Robot. ... (I worked with this Robot, I loved this Robot, it became part of me) ...

G: Who created the line "It does not compute!", do you know?

B: The writers. Strictly ...

G: The same for "Warning - Warning"?

B: Yeah, the only thing is, some of the writers - as good as they are (and they still are .. some of them are still with us, thank God) - they would say things like "I can't" or "I won't", where a Robot - or as we know, computers - would not say "Doesn't" .. it would say "Does not". So I would take my pen and I'd scratch "Doesn't" and I'd put "Does not" ... "It does not compute!" instead of "It doesn't". But that's basically all that I said in that respect, and changed.

G: Can you tell us about a typical day's shooting of Lost In Space, what time you had to be there etc?

B: Typical day? We would get there and start shooting at about 8 o'clock, and we would shoot until 6 or 7. It was a long day.

G: The first season of course was in black and white. What did you think of the colour when you first saw it?

B: I loved it - I loved it. But with any show of that expense - and when you're talking expense you're talking special effects and opticals and things of this nature - talking of a very expensive situation. So therefore the first year you've got to find out how your product is working ... and once it works, then you go into the colour.

As I said, Irwin Allen's a genius. He knew what he was doing. I think if we had been in colour the first year it wouldn't have given impact the second year as it did. I've got to bring up something: you know when we were doing Lost In Space we started the show in 1965, and in 1966 my son was born My son's name is Marty May. Named after my father. My daughter was born in 1968, her name is Deborah May, she's carrying on the tradition ... she's an actress, a singer. My wife, Judy, she turned my sons schedule around so that I would be able to feed him, play with him a little bit ... I'm still playing with him - he's a semi-pro football player, he's bigger than I am now and he does 'compute' out on that football field! My daughter is sensational she works nightclubs. Years ago, a columnist asked me, "Well Bob, you're on a very successful show, how do you feel being the Robot?" and I said, "Oh, I think it's great." He said, "How long do you want to be the Robot?" Well in jest I said to him, "Well I would like to be the Robot as long as I possibly can and my son can take over after me. " Mr Allen turned around and gave my son one of the robots from our show, the little toy robots from The Mechanical Men episode, and it was quite a thrill.

G: I've heard that when your son, Marty, was born during the shooting of Lost In Space, Irwin Allen had to order you off the lot!

B: (laughs) Oh golly, yeah! There was a lady friend of my wife's, her name was Gaye Hart. We had it arranged that Gaye would call me if my wife went into labour. Well the phone rang on the set: I was told I had a call. I went to the phone, and it was Gaye. She said, "Bob, we're leaving for the hospital."

I hung up. She called me back, she said "We're taking off right now!" I hung up. Irwin Allen called me. He said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm filming the scene." He says, "No, you have to go to the hospital!" I hung up on him. He called me back, and said, "Don't hang up please ..." and I hung up again. Three times on Irwin Allen I hung up and finally he said, "NOW DONT HANG UP! Take off your makeup so you don't scare your newborn baby ... and what are you actually doing?" I said, "I'm doing some offstage dialogue." He said to forget it. I said that I can't do that, and I wouldn't do that, no more than anybody else on our show would have.

When you do offstage dialogue, you're doing the scene and they're doing a closeup or a 'two- shot' on somebody else, you owe them the courtesy and the professionalism to do your dialogue. Because of timing and everything else. I said, "No sir, I will leave after I have finished" and I hung up. Finished my dialogue, went into my dressing room, washed off the makeup, got into my car. I had a '64 and a half Mustang Fastback - which is now my son's - and I got into this thing and I'm driving it off the lot, and here's a Highway Patrol officer waiting for me at the gate.

He says, "Bob May?" I said, "Yes sir." He says, "Follow me." We are leaving 20th Century Fox to go to St John's Hospital in Santa Monica ... and I won't say I'm anxious… but I must have had a great car because I passed that Highway Patrol officer and left him in the dust, (laughs)and as we came around to the hospital he turned off his siren and everything and said, "Good luck, Robot" ... and I went in!

G: During the first season, we had a lot of serious episodes, and during the second season it tended to go from Science Fiction to Science Fantasy. Do you know a reason why that happened?

B: Yeah. It's very simple. The Network executives wanted more 'Smith' and 'the Robot' and 'Will'. It's just that simple. This is what they felt the audience wanted, so they insisted on it. We did that. The third year, the network said we want 'Robot' shows ... and you might notice that in the third year the Robot had most of the shows. That has nothing to do with the talent and the ability of others. It has to do with what the Network officials felt that the public wanted. Many cases they have been wrong in the past, however they were right in this respect.

G: How important to Lost In Space were the characters of Will, Dr Smith and the Robot?

B: The only way I can answer it is, the longevity of our fans ... who loved the show ... and the last two years of our show were Will Robinson, Dr Smith and the Robot. I am not in the position to be able to say whether the show would have been just as good or not without the three characters, but I will say that the audience loved us, and we loved them for loving us. That's about it.

G: Can you tell me about your favourite director?

B: Well we had a lot of directors. I have to break it down into different feelings and different things. Ezra Stone was one of our directors - a very fine director, but I had a personal thing with Ezra, because Ezra and I go back to the '40s and '50s. He directed my family and myself on live television back in New York in a show called The Buick Show. Ezra invented several different shots that we now take for granted. He did 'em live. So, that's a personal thing there. I was so pleased to have him on the set. It brought back fond, fond memories.

Sutton Roley was one of the best directors we ever had. Sutton Roley, as far as I was concerned, was limiting himself because he should have been doing major motion pictures. He's that good, he's that thorough. As a director myself, I can only look at Sutton Roley's work and say this man should be doing colossal-type motion pictures, to put them in the same area he could get himself an Academy Award, because he's that good, he's that talented.

Now we come to one of my favourite pals. I loved him. I adored him. He got me hysterical so many times, and that was Sobey Martin. Sobey ... God love Sobey ... he's been around the business before you or I were ever even born or even thought of, probably. He would fall asleep! (laughs) He just fell asleep! There was many a time, too, that we'd say to him, "Sobey, what about doing this or doing that?" and Sobey'd say, "Shoot-shoot-shoot-shoot-shoot ... Go go ... Let's shoot .. let's shoot! and that's the way it worked.

I remember one time in particular in Castles In Space, there was a sequence with the Robot and this Mexican bandits, where the bandito tried to get the Robot drunk, and the Robot was getting very drunk. The kids were not on the set, because there were strict rules about that, so we went through the entire scene, and I looked over and Sobey who was sound asleep.

I left a couple of beats so the editor would be able to cut ... and I said, "Well what about the A$%! BLANIO *#*Al BLANU. &#$BLANK BLANIO BLAAW

..... And Sobey woke up and said, "Where's that!? Where's that in the script!?" (laughs).

Jonathan and I had fun with Sobey. He's polishing the Robot one time (in War Of The Robots) and said, "Is this all right?" and I'd say, "Lower..." He says, "What?" and we did the old bit: "Looower ... Looooweeer" (in a low voice) and - the kids weren't around - I said, "That's low enough!!" ... Y'know? But Sobey couldn't figure out where that was in the script.

But we always left a space for the editor to cut it out. I'd love some day to see some of the outtakes. Because with the children on the set you can't say anything with vulgarity in it. If I'd blow a line or something, I'd say, "Oh, ssssssh-ugar!!" That was my little thing. Jonathan, Billy and myself very seldom blew a line.

Billy was magnificent at remembering his lines, and being prepared, especially for a young person that he was then. Jonathan ... it was his training again. He did his homework. I would work with my homework. That's not saying the others didn't because they did.

But from the second year through the third year, Dr Smith, Will Robinson and the Robot had so many heavy, heavy scripts to learn - dialogue after dialogue - and we had fifteen pages a day, and ad-libbing another fifteen pages, we were all worn out. So we'd have our fun when we could. But as far as the directors go ... those three stick in my mind. And Jerry [Nathan] Juran. Jerry was a fine director. But he wasn't one of my favourites. Ezra Stone and Sutton Roley were definitely my favourites. Especially Sutton.

G: I was going to mention Harry Harris too...

B: Harry? Sweet, wonderful director. He could do any television series, and do it not just adequate - but do it very well. But again, Sutton Roley is deserving a shot like John Frankenheimer or somebody of that nature, that came from TV. John Frankenheimer - the boy wonder that came to Hollywood from New York. John Frankenheimer was a genius, he needed that break. Sutton Roley needs a break. Sutton Roley is as good as Frankenheimer.

G: Did Irwin Allen ever come down to the set to supervise?

B: Sometimes ... sometimes. Especially the first year.

G: Was his presence always felt?

B: Oh yeah. You knew he was there. He was the 'Man', and you knew he was there.

G: Some people tell me that off the set, it was difficult to separate you from the character of the robot. Is it true?

B: No. No. When I was at work, I was at work. I would be the Robot right then and there. I'm sure Billy mentioned that to you, Mark would say that ... there isn't anybody that wouldn't say it, and that's right. When I was at work, I was the Robot. But when I left the studio, I was Bob May, who made his living as a performer, whether it was nightclubs, theatres, television, or film.

It didn't matter, I was a performer, and I was going home to my family and I gonna kick back in the San Fernando valley in California and relax. I love to hunt. I love to fish, I love to travel, I like to be a viewer. I watch a lot of television, I'm a great audience. Give me a show that entertains me whether it is drama. comedy, musical it doesn't matter - I'm a great audience. So, that's the way I work. When I'm there to do my job, I'm there to do my job. Nothing more and nothing less.

G: There was some wonderful hardware on Lost in Space with the Robot being the number one piece, but the Jupiter II itself, the Space Pod, the Chariot. What is your opinion of the hardware?

B: Well, let me put it this way. With the props, such as the flying belt that we used for flying, it was way ahead of it's time. The Chariot is similar to the land rover that they used on the Moon. Our spaceship was very futuristic, it was very innovative, and very scientific. There was a meaning for everything.

G: During the season's run of Lost In Space, did you actually make any commercial visits outside the studio in the robot suit?

B: Yeah, I did. Well ... it wasn't promotional. But 20th Century Fox was nice enough - this is after we had closed down - they were nice enough to loan me the Robot outfit. A couple of the Prop men shipped it to Las Vegas, and at that time Jerry Lewis was in New York doing a national telethon for Muscular Dystrophy. There was a national hookup to Las Vegas, but the main studio was in New York. There was a gentleman called Gus Gufay and myself who were the co-MC's, and we had a guest star with us, Wayne Newton.

20th Century Fox allowed me to use the Robot in Las Vegas and they sent it down at their own expense to help the Muscular Dystrophy telethon. I would be in a tuxedo at one point, co-MC'ing, then I would go back, change into a pair of Levi's, jump into the Robot outfit, come out, and while Jerry was doing his 'bucket brigade' - going through the audience with a bucket, wanting dollars from the people - the Robot was asking people in Las Vegas for a dollar.

There is a funny story to that. During the afternoon - it was a Saturday - there were a lot of children in the audience, and clowns and what have you, so we decided to have the children of the audience come to give the Robot a dollar. The Robot was standing there and he'd say (in Robot voice), "I-want-a-dollar ... 1-want-a-dollar! " and they'd give the Robot a dollar and he'd say, "Thank you!" and they'd drop it in a bucket that one of the girls from the casino was holding.

Well, they had so much security on me it was unreal. My two children were there, and they were covered with all kinds of security badges. So one of the children that came up to give the Robot a dollar was my daughter, and as soon as I saw her I said, "Thank-you-Deborah!" and she looked up at me - she was about three years old - she said, "You're-welcome daddy! " We all got hysterical.

We did guest shots, I was on the Red Skelton Show twice, we did Good Morning America, we did Family Feud, we did shows like that. In Family Feud I was myself. Good Morning America ... I came out as the Robot. In the Red Skelton Show, I was the Robot and strangely enough Dick Tufeld was the announcer for the show. So here's Dick as the announcer and here comes the Robot, so I did my own voice and he was doing the announcing for Red! The Robot's other guest appearances after Lost In Space were in the show Studs, a Museum Of Radio & Television Science and The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen.

G: Bob, how did you hear about the cancellation of Lost In Space?

B: I read it in the newspaper. I was never called. It shocked me. Y'know, if it was today's world with the rag sheets you have m the markets I'd swear it was somebody playing a gag.

G: During the 70's, Star Wars came out, and two characters were C3PO and R2D2. It seems to me they were very much like the characters of the Robot and Dr Smith.

B: Well, they had empathy, they had feelings, they had emotions. If we, through our efforts, gave them an insight on what a robot and their counterpart should be like, then we did our job, and I'm very pleased.

I am sure there are even character similarities on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek was produced by another very dear friend of mine, Gene Roddenberry, and I did a series for him a few years ago called The Lieutenant. Digressing from your question, do you know when I was on Lost in Space I was offered a part on The Time Tunnel, and I played Hitler in the episode The Kidnappers. That was very strange, because I was dressed up as Hitler inside the Robot outfit, and then have to do the Robot, and then go over and be Hitler and try to act like Hitler instead of the Robot! So it got confusing for a while. I mean, have you ever seen Hitler saying "Warning! Warning! Warning!", y'know it doesn't happen! But, again Irwin Allen was nice enough to let me play that part.

G: Could you tell me about that Family Feud reunion?

B: Family Feud is one of my favourite shows - I had so much fun… I'm a viewer. I love watching these game shows, and when Richard Dawson was the host it was great. You would sit back at home and say to yourself, "Oh I can do that. I know that! I can win a lot of money… get me onto a game show!" Right? Well you get on there and it's a different ball game because you are in line, and you're thinking of the question, "Oh well ...ummm... this or that ... I've got my answer." And three people before you blow your answer away from you, and the host comes to you and you go, "Er ... err and you can't think of anything.

You can find yourself out-thinking yourself. So you gotta think the way the average public would answer a question. Well I did, and so did Marta, Angels, June and Guy. We almost won the whole thing! We went to the final, and we beat out everybody else, but we lost it to Gilligan's Island It was a tremendous experience.

G: What was it like to see members of the cast of Lost In Space again? I imagine some of you hadn't seen each other for a long time.

B: Oh no, we keep in communication all the time, thanks to June Lockhart. June is our 'Den Mother', she makes sure that we all keep in contact. She's a doll that way. We see each other every so often, we talk to each other on the phone.

Being together again, on camera, was very enjoyable. I missed Jonathan though. He wasn't with us on Family Feud. We could have had Family Feud against Family Feud at that point because Dr Smith and the Robot could have gotten into it, but Jonathan wasn't able to be there. But he does so many other things, he really does.

G: What was Guy like?

B: Guy Williams ... as I said before and I truly mean it, we lost a super human being when we lost Guy. Guy was a professional from the word go, but most importantly he was a wonderful human being. He was always a good friend. He was there if you needed him

G: Thirty years on, Lost In Space has endured, and it seems to me that it is going to go on for a long time to come. Would you like to say anything to the fans?

B: Keep the cards and the letters coming ... as Dean Martin would say. But if you enjoy it ... don't turn off that television, don't turn to another channel. Watch it. Enjoy it. And every time you see it, there'll be something that you'll see that you missed before because we do so many things, and we're here to entertain you and have some fun. So have fun with us!

If you want to write to me, write care of Alpha Control ... they'll forward it on, and when I get them I'll answer, and I'll be fortunate enough to visit your fine country in March 1996. I had some fun when I was there as a kid. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you. I'll sign as many autographs as my hands can handle, and we'll have some fun and we'll have laughs together, and if it takes a couple of days of being together so that all of you get your autographs - that's fine, too.

G: You have made a video concerning the Robot. Please tell us about it.

B: Yes sir, Mr Mike Clark produced it with me, it's called Robot Memories. All the memories that I have and then some, and it's for home video. In Australia you can only get it through Alpha Control. It's a really fascinating video tape, about an hour.

G: Bob, if the Lost In Space motion picture was ever made would you serve as the Robot once again?

B: If I wasn't asked, I would be tremendously hurt. There'd be no question whatsoever, and I would tell my agent straight out: if and when they do that picture, you'd better say yes, because that's what I want.

G: What does Bob May do to relax?

B: (laughs) What does Bob May do to relax? Bob May loves to hunt and fish ... Bob May loves to be with his family most importantly, Bob May also owns a semi-Pro football team.

My son, Marty, whom you've met, is our 'tailback' - our running back, and my daughter, Deborah, is our head trainer. My wife is involved ... I told you, we're a family - we are involved together. My wife is the co-owner of the team, and the assistant trainer, she works under my daughter (laughs). We do things together 5 whether it's just being around the house, in the swimming pool, or playing some gin rummy or playing monopoly, we like being together enjoying life.

G: What do you know about Australia?

B: I was in Australia as I explained earlier, when I was very young. I was over there with Olsen & Johnson. We were in Melbourne and Sydney, which are just beautiful... I love Melbourne, the memories I have of Melbourne are gorgeous. Sydney, is just beautiful but Sydney - today - is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it really is! If anybody doesn't believe me they've closed their eyes to travel magazines, and to films like Crocodile Dundee.

Australia is gorgeous. The back country, the cities which are well-landscaped with beautiful architecture. We are very receptive to Australian motion pictures. Their quality is very high. I'm very impressed with Muriels Wedding and Strictly Ballroom. So, I can't wait to go there again with my wife, Judy.

G: Bob, thank you very much for your time, we appreciate it very much and thank you for being apart of Lost In Space.

B: Well thank you. This is something that is very enjoyable. It's quite an honour for you all to come here to my home and want to ask me questions about something that I love very dearly, Lost In Space.