May was born in New York City on September 4th, 1939. His grandfather was Chic Johnson, a vaudeville comedian. When he was two-years old, his grandfather, together with his partner Ole Olsen, had him appear in the Hellzapoppin comedy review, which was his first show business experience. May was only two at the time, and continued to work with his family for a few years. May married in to Judith D. Wells on February 18th, 1961. Bob and Judith had two children.
Bob became an actor both on stage and in movies; he was also a stuntman, director and public speaker, and appeared in several films with the famous comedian Jerry Lewis (Martin and Lewis), such as The Nutty Professor. He also starred in several TV series, such as The Time Tunnel, McHale's Navy and The Red Skelton Show. As a stuntman, he performed in television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, for example, Cheyenne, Hawaiian Eye, Palm Springs Weekend, and others.
May is best remembered (albeit never really seen on the show itself) as the Robot in Lost in Space, a sci-fi show from the 70s. His sole purpose on the show was to move the robot around. Oddly enough, when Bob went to Irwin Allen to inquire about The Robot role, he was told that if he could fit the robot suit, he's got the job. May was apparently very comfortable with his role, and members of the crew could see smoke coming from The Robot, as it was quite hard to get inside the robot, and May would stay in there even during intermissions.
The Robot appeared on all 83 episodes of the three year spanning TV series. May's (as well as Dick Tufeld's, who narrated the Robot) name never appeared on the credits, because producer Irwin Allen wanted the audience to think that the robot was "real". May did, however, get credited in the re-runs of Lost in Space. He was actually one of the rare cast members who got credited on the show.
Bob May was a quite diverse personality in terms of interest; May was a golf, softball and football player; he also enjoyed basketball and horseback riding. He has taught football, singing and dancing.
An unconventional sidestep of May's was his love for nightclubs. He traveled from coast to coast to perform and work at nightclubs; he has worked in shows such as The Latin Quarter, The Riviera, and The Chez Paris in Chicago. An avid fan of science fiction, May frequently visited sci-fi conventions, where numerous people got to know him and the work Bob did backstage in his golden years.
His home in a mobile home park in the San Fernando Valley was destroyed by the California wildfires that hit Los Angeles in late 2008, both him and his wife escaped safely. May died on January 18, 2009 of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lancaster, California at the age of 69 and now rests in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
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