- He apprenticed at George Pal's animation studio, recognized for its Oscar-winning stop-motion techniques using puppet figures. In less than a year, he became a lead animator for Pal's Puppetoons division.
- His puppets had roles in "A Star Is Born," "Star Trek," Elvis Presley's "G.I. Blues," Disney's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind.".
- The Los Angeles City Council designated his marionette theater a historic-cultural landmark in 2009.
- He first saw a puppet show when he was 6. By age 8, he was taking puppetry lessons. He staged his first professional performance in 1932 for an audience that included film director Mervyn LeRoy. While a student at Hollywood High School, he worked with the WPA doing puppetry and selling his own hand-crafted marionettes to department stores.
- In 1962, he and Alton Wood opened what is now the oldest puppet theater in the US, on Glendale Boulevard in LA. Before then, they staged puppet shows at schools, women's clubs, and churches. They also had a thriving side business designing and building puppets for movies and commercials, and producing toy Pinocchio puppets sold at Disneyland. Their workshop also created animated displays for Knott's Berry Farm. Their puppets appeared in commercials for Bob's Big Boy, McDonald's and Burger King, among other clients.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content