The science fiction world has lost a great artist. Robert Kinoshita, who worked as production designer and art director in film and television for decades, has passed away.
There are many people who would be hard pressed to name any of the actors from the 1960’s sci-fi TV cult darling Lost in Space or the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. Many of these same people would look at a photo of the robot from Forbidden Planet and say, “Oh yes. That Robby the Robot.” These same people would also probably be able to answer the trivia question: What did the robot in Lost in Space say when times got tough? (“Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!” They have Kinoshita to thank for these robot memories as he designed robots for both of these sci-fi classics.
While Kinoshita will mostly be remembered as a ‘robot builder’, Lost in Space and Forbidden Planet were just two of his many film and TV credits. Throughout the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s Kinoshita worked in the art department for many television shows including Science Fiction Theater (1956-1957), Men Into Space (1959-1960), Lost in Space (1965-1967), Hawaii Five-O (1970-1971), and Kojak (1973-1974).
Kinoshita was honored by his peers with a career retrospective by the Hollywood Heritage Museum in 2004 and was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame by the Carnegie-Mellon Institute.
Kinoshita passed away on December 9th. He was 100 years old.
Source: Variety
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=usnScWU5JkY&list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F
Originally published January 15, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
