I’m an independent filmmaker and puppeteer in Toronto, Canada who blogs about puppetry and film.
George Latshaw with the puppet Carrot Top and Leslie Caron in the 1953 MGM film Lili. The New York Times ran an obituary for George Latshaw (see previous post) just before Christmas. It’s a nice tribute to his career and you should be able to read it online here (the NYT restricts content to its...
George Latshaw photographed in 1999 putting on an impromptu puppet show in his Florida home. I just received the awful news that George Latshaw passed away last night in hospital. Very little other information is available right now, but this is a terrible, terrible loss for the puppetry community. George was a puppeteer, writer and...
I just arrived back home in Toronto last night and got the sad, sad, horrible news that Jerry Juhl passed away on Monday. Jerry was, of course, a television and movie writer best known for his work with Jim Henson and the Muppets. He first worked as a puppeteer on Sam and Friends and eventually...
I have some very sad news to share…Nikki Tilroe has passed away. This is from Crabgrass Puppet Theatre: “Nikki Tilroe died last night. She had been ill for a number of months, and was facing a liver transplant and possibly a kidney transplant as well. Almost two weeks ago, she decided to terminate medical intervention,...
Some sad news hit the puppetry world today; puppeteer Anton Rupprecht – possibly best known as one of the puppeteers who helped bring the Foster Farms Chickens to life – has died. This is from Steve Axtell: “…Anton Rupprecht is sadly no longer with us. Anton was one of the four Puppeteers who brought the...
As if the world hasn’t had enough bad news this week comes word that Jerry Orbach – who began his career with an early starring role as an embittered puppeteer in the original Broadway production of Carnival – has died in New York of prostate cancer. Jerry was of course best known for his signature...
It’s always sad to hear about the loss of someone in the international puppetry community and I was shocked and sad to hear today about the premature death of a member of Ireland’s famous Lambert puppet family, Stephen Lambert, who passed away prematurely on February 24th. The Lambert Puppet Theatre near Dublin is Ireland’s only...