Robert Kinoshita obit

Robert Kinoshita, Designer of ‘Lost in Space’ Robot, Dies at 100

 He was not on the list.

Film and television production designer and art director Robert Kinoshita, best known for designing the robot from the 1960s cult hit sci-fi series “Lost in Space” and its ancestor, Robby the Robot from the film “Forbidden Planet,” died Dec. 9 at age 100.

The robot from “Lost in Space” was famous for declaring, in a mechanical but definitely somewhat panicked tone, “Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!”

Around April 1965, Irwin Allen hired Kinoshita as the art director for the Lost in Space series. Two of Kinoshita's tasks were to design a robot (which he nicknamed "Blinky") and to redesign the pilot film's Gemini XII space ship into what would become the Jupiter 2. This robot never had a real name—only the model number "B9." In the show he was referred to as "the robot" or called by the generic name, "Robot." He was brought to life by the combination of actor Bob May and voice actor Dick Tufeld. Two of Kinoshita's famous robots appeared faceplate-to-faceplate in the Lost in Space episodes "War of the Robots" and "Condemned of Space", where Robby the Robot appeared as a guest robotoid and robot, respectively.

Reported costs for Robby the Robot's construction range from $100,000-$125,000. Measuring around 7 feet (213 cm) tall, Robby was the result of the efforts of a number of individuals, although the final design as it appeared in Forbidden Planet is usually attributed to Kinoshita, who was head draftsman of the art department, and who produced the working drawings and blueprints for Robby's construction under the supervision of art director A. Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie at MGM.

Kinoshita worked on his first film in 1937, “100 Men and a Girl,” but his film career was temporarily derailed when he and his wife were forced into a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II.

He eventually returned to Hollywood to work on the 1956 sci-fi classic “Forbidden Planet” as a robot builder, including work on the film’s Robby the Robot.

Kinoshita continued to work in film and television as an art director through the 1980s, and in 2004 he was honored with a career retrospective by Hollywood Heritage; he was also inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame by the Carnegie-Mellon Institute.

Kinoshita was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the USC School of Architecture.

He is survived by his daughter, Pat Aoki.

 

Filmography

Production Designer

Hundred Men and a Girl, directed by Henry Koster (1937)

Luke and the Tenderfoot (1955) – TV series (2 episodes)

The Rebel Returns to Town, directed by Alfred L. Werker (1956)

The Black Sleep, directed by Reginald Le Borg (1956)

Star Broken, directed by Lesley Selander (1956)

Pharaoh's Curse, directed by Lee Sholem (1957)

Science Fiction Theatre (1956–1957), TV series (14 episodes)

Rock All Night, directed by Roger Corman (1957)

Teenage Doll, directed by Roger Corman (1957)

Here Comes Tobor, directed by Duke Goldstone (1957) – TV movie

Harbor Command (1957–1958) – TV series (14 episodes)

The Rough Riders (1958) – TV series

Mackenzie's Raiders (1958–1959) – TV series

Highway Patrol (1959), TV series (5 episodes)

Bold Venture (1959), TV series

Tombstone Territory (1957–1959), TV series

World of Giants (1959), TV series (1 episode)

Adventures in the bottom of the sea (1958–1959), TV series

Bat Masterson (1959), TV series

Lock Up (1959–1960), TV series (5 episodes)

Art Director

 

Poster of the film The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent

Science Fiction Theatre (1955), TV series

Macabre, directed by William Castle (1958)

The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, directed by Roger Corman (1957)

'The Path of Vengeance, directed by Mark Stevens (1958)

The Love of a Geisha (Tokyo After Dark), directed by Norman T. Herman (1959)

Men Into Space (1959–1960) – TV series

The Nun and the Sergeant of Franklin Adreon director (1962)

Ripcord (1962) – TV series (1 episode)

Lost in Space (1965–1967) – TV series

Mash: The Private War of Sgt. O'Farrell, directed by Frank Tashlin (1968)

Hawaii Five-O (1970–1971) – TV series (24 episodes)

The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War, directed by Russ Mayberry (1973) – TV movie

Lieutenant Kojak (1973–1974) – TV series (8 episodes)

Planet Earth, directed by Marc Daniels (1974)

Ironside (1974) – TV series (1 episode)

The Dead Don't Die, directed by Curtis Harrington (1975) – TV movie

The Streets of San Francisco (1976) – TV series (2 episodes)

Terror at 12,000 meters, Directed by Robert Butler (1976) – TV movie

Project U.F.O. (1978) – TV series (12 episodes)

Barnaby Jones (1978–1979) – TV series (23 episodes)

Belle Starr, directed by John A. Alonzo (1980)

The Gong Show Movie, directed by Chuck Barris (1981)

Going Ape!, Directed by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (1981)

Matt Houston (1982) – TV series (1 episode)

Girls of the White Orchid, directed by Jonathan Kaplan (1983) – TV movie

Lovelines, directed by Rod Amateau (1984)

Cover Up (1984) – TV series (3 episodes)

Producer

The Phantom Planet, directed by William Marshall (1961)

Hell's Bloody Devils, directed by Al Adamson (1970)