Hank Stohl was a star puppeteer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the early days of television.

I’m sad to report that we’ve lost another of the early pioneers of television puppetry. Henry “Hank” Stohl – a well-known as a puppeteer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s and `60s – passed away on Monday after a long illness. Hank was well-known in Pittsburgh (and later New York) for the dozen years he spent working on kids’ shows beginning in 1952. Later in his career put away his puppets to become a successful actor, appearing in dozens of movies, TV series, soap operas and plays, Hank also worked steadily for many years doing commercial voice-overs. One of his well-known characters, Knish, can still be seen today on exhibit at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.