By C.J. Hirschfield
The Storybook Puppet Theater at Children’s Fairyland, which raised its curtain in 1956, is the longest continuously operating puppet theater in America. But the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles has been around nearly as long: since 1963. We are both revered institutions in our respective cities. And now, Fairyland is proud to welcome a representative of the Bob Baker Marionettes to our annual Puppet Fair on August 25 and 26.
The Storybook Puppet Theater at Children’s Fairyland, which raised its curtain in 1956, is the longest continuously operating puppet theater in America. But the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles has been around nearly as long: since 1963. We are both revered institutions in our respective cities. And now, Fairyland is proud to welcome a representative of the Bob Baker Marionettes to our annual Puppet Fair on August 25 and 26.
Bob Baker
(1924–2014) began training at age 8 with several puppet companies before he
gave his first professional performance. In high school, he began manufacturing
marionettes, which he sold in the U.S. and Europe. By the time he was an adult,
his puppetry was featured in many TV series and in films such as Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He
also provided a place of learning for puppeteers, including Fairyland’s own
master puppeteer Randal Metz, who studied with him for three years in the 1980s.
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| Bob Baker (left) with partner Alton Wood and "birthday dog" puppets. Via Bob Baker Marionette Theater |
The Bob Baker
Marionette Theater is experiencing an exciting transition: it is now a nonprofit organization that will ensure the
enduring legacy of its founder. The organization's new executive director is
Alex Evans, who worked closely with Bob Baker for almost 10 years.
