Danger, Will Robinson, Robot Has Left the Ship

January 19, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, TV SHOWS

Bob May, the actor who most likely will be forever known as Robot from LOST IN SPACE, has passed away at the age of 69 from congestive heart failure.

He began his career in Hollywood at the age of 2, when his grandfather, vaudevillian Chic Johnson, had him appear in his comedy show HELLZAPOPPIN. After trying his own hand at vaudeville for awhile, May decided to go after television roles.

He acted in such TV series as THE TIME TUNNEL, McHALE’S NAVY and THE RED SKELTON SHOW. He also worked as a stuntman on CHEYENNE, SURFSIDE 6, HAWAIIAN EYE, THE ROARING 20S and STAGECOACH in the ’50s and ’60s.
But it wasn’t until 1965, when he was chosen to play Robot in LOST IN SPACE (because he could fit in the suit according to legend) that he became a long-standing cult favorite – unseen, but forever recognizable whenever it uttered the legendary, "Danger, Will Robinson." (What usually only die-hard fans realize, though, is that May didn’t provide the robot’s distinctive voice–that was done by announcer Dick Tufeld.)

He enjoyed his role as Robot, once telling people he had come to consider the suit a “home away from home.”

June Lockhart, who played the mother on LOST IN SPACE, said May wore the Robot suit for hours at a time and learned the lines of every actor in the show so he would know when to respond to their cues. Because it wasn’t easy to get in and out of the suit, he kept it on during breaks.

“He was a smoker,” Lockhart remembered. “From time to time (when he was on a break), we’d see smoke coming out of the robot. That always amused us.”

Even after the series ended, May spent many years attending fan conventions and memorabilia shows, keeping the spirit of Robot alive.

More recently, in 2008, during a series of devastating fires in the Los Angeles area, Bob May and his wife were residents of the area that was devastated. Although he and his wife made it out of there in time, their house and all its contents were completely destroyed. They had less than an hour to grab what they could and get out. Sadly, they were only able to save a few family items and the clothes they were wearing. They ended up living with their daughter while they were making other arrangements.

May is survived by his wife, Judith; a daughter, Deborah; a son, Martin; and four grandchildren.

R.I.P. Robot!

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