Robby the Robot: From ‘Forbidden Planet’ to Auction Block
By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA
NOV. 10, 2017
The only cast member of the 1956 science-fiction space epic “Forbidden Planet” to receive sole billing in the opening credits is being auctioned. In other words, it’s not Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis or Leslie Nielsen. It’s Robby, the seven-foot-tall robot who towered over his co-stars both literally and, ultimately, in the popular imagination. On Nov. 21, he will be part of Bonhams’ “Out of This World!” sale of movie memorabilia in New York, with an expected sale price in the low- to mid-seven figures.
As opposed to the “Maschinenmensch” of “Metropolis” (1927) and Gort in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), Robby represented a breakthrough in mechanical personality. Though vaguely menacing, he mixed readily with humans. His voice, provided in postproduction by Marvin Miller, was stentorian yet conversational.
And his looks were unforgettable. His bowling-ball-shaped legs, whirling and clattering chest and head components (topped off by a clear, bottlenose skullcap), and blue neon tubing that lit up when he spoke made him an instant classic. After “Forbidden Planet,” Robby appeared in “The Twilight Zone,” “The Addams Family,” “Lost in Space,” “Hazel,” “Columbo” and elsewhere. He also inspired a bevy of toys. “He’s so beautifully thought out,” said Robby’s owner, Bill Malone, 70, of Studio City, Calif. “‘Forbidden Planet’ would not have worked had Robby been a boiler-pot robot from the 1940s.”
Robby was built mainly of Royalite, an ABS plastic often used for luggage, by a team of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer designers and technicians for approximately $100,000. His electronics could be activated via an offstage control panel connected by a cable, or by an operator inside the costume who conducted the actual movement. “As a kid,” Mr. Malone said, “I totally believed he was real.”
Bonhams is selling Robby along with the control panel, a futuristic land vehicle he piloted on planet Altair IV, and his original M.G.M. packing crates. The studio sold the lot in 1970 to Jim Brucker, who displayed Robby at the now-defunct Movie World/Cars of Stars venue in Orange County, Calif. Mr. Malone bought the works from Mr. Brucker for “pennies on the dollar” in 1979; since then the robot has resided in Mr. Malone’s home. “Every morning I’d have coffee with Robby,” he said.
So why unload him now? “I’m of an age where I’m still healthy and doing good,” Mr. Malone said, “but I think it’s time to think about his future. We’re sending Robby to college.” There are also practical considerations. Mr. Malone recalled that someone once telephoned to ask, “‘Is it O.K. if I bring a couple of people over?’” “And he drove up in a Greyhound bus with a bunch of Japanese people, as if I were part of the Universal tour,” he continued. “I think people need to see him in a museum setting.”
“It was tough working with a robot who didn’t talk,” said Earl Holliman, 89, the last surviving major player in “Forbidden Planet.” “Whenever I talked to Robby, the lines would be delivered by the script supervisor, who was sitting next to the cameraman. It was kind of awkward.” Still, as the cook of United Planets Cruiser C-57D, Mr. Holliman forged a bond with Robby when the robot distilled 60 gallons of bourbon for him. “He’s been a friend for 62 years,” Mr. Holliman said, “and I hope that whoever gets him keeps him well lubricated.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts ... nhams.html
Of course, Robby was not the first non-human companion in film or television; before that there was Francis, the talking Mule!!! 
