Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Jim Henson Idea Man
Back to the Rock Season 2
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
ravagefrackle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2003
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 6
Peter Baird, Who Carried on His Family's Marionette Legacy, Dies at 52
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Peter Baird, a master puppeteer in the mold of his legendary parents, Bil and Cora Baird, died on Friday at a hospital in the Bronx. He was 52 and lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and in Los Angeles.
The cause was esophageal cancer, diagnosed in November, said his wife, Mavis Humes Baird.
Mr. Baird apprenticed at the knees of his parents, who led the revival of puppet theater in the United States in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. He started pulling the strings of marionettes at 5, and at 11 was taking tickets at the Bil Baird Marionette Theater in Greenwich Village.
He became a professional puppeteer before he turned 20. Most recently, he worked to preserve his father's legacy and was involved in the preproduction phase of the Paramount film "Team America: World Police," from the creators of "South Park." The film, in which marionette superheroes fight terrorism, is scheduled for release in November.
The young Peter Baird toured with Bil Baird Marionettes in this country and in Europe, especially after Cora Baird's death in 1967. After his father's death, in 1987, he also developed variations, from shadow play to computer-generated characters.
He worked in children's theater and on national tours of "L'Histoire du Soldat" and "Pinocchio." In television, he worked on "Shining Time Station" in the early 1990's.
He turned "Davy Jones' Locker," a Bil Baird Marionette show, into a film in 1995. Other films he worked on included "The Muppets Take Manhattan" (1984), "Howard the Duck" (1986) and "Strings," a Danish film made last year.
Before Bil Baird's death, father and son began a permanent exhibit of Baird marionettes and scenery at the MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa (macniderart.org). Mr. Baird recently formed an advisory group to promote it.
Besides his wife, Mr. Baird is survived by his sister, Laura Brundage, of North Bennington, Vt.
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Peter Baird, a master puppeteer in the mold of his legendary parents, Bil and Cora Baird, died on Friday at a hospital in the Bronx. He was 52 and lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and in Los Angeles.
The cause was esophageal cancer, diagnosed in November, said his wife, Mavis Humes Baird.
Mr. Baird apprenticed at the knees of his parents, who led the revival of puppet theater in the United States in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. He started pulling the strings of marionettes at 5, and at 11 was taking tickets at the Bil Baird Marionette Theater in Greenwich Village.
He became a professional puppeteer before he turned 20. Most recently, he worked to preserve his father's legacy and was involved in the preproduction phase of the Paramount film "Team America: World Police," from the creators of "South Park." The film, in which marionette superheroes fight terrorism, is scheduled for release in November.
The young Peter Baird toured with Bil Baird Marionettes in this country and in Europe, especially after Cora Baird's death in 1967. After his father's death, in 1987, he also developed variations, from shadow play to computer-generated characters.
He worked in children's theater and on national tours of "L'Histoire du Soldat" and "Pinocchio." In television, he worked on "Shining Time Station" in the early 1990's.
He turned "Davy Jones' Locker," a Bil Baird Marionette show, into a film in 1995. Other films he worked on included "The Muppets Take Manhattan" (1984), "Howard the Duck" (1986) and "Strings," a Danish film made last year.
Before Bil Baird's death, father and son began a permanent exhibit of Baird marionettes and scenery at the MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa (macniderart.org). Mr. Baird recently formed an advisory group to promote it.
Besides his wife, Mr. Baird is survived by his sister, Laura Brundage, of North Bennington, Vt.
