The
MacNider Loses a Friend,
Puppeteer
Peter Baird
Peter Baird,
son of legendary puppeteers Bil and Cora Baird, and a master
puppeteer himself, passed away on Friday, July 16, 2004 at the
age of 52, of esophageal cancer.
Trained in puppetry
from the age of 5, Peter carried on the Baird puppetry legacy.
His father grew up in Mason City and created more than 3.000
puppets and marionettes throughout his life gaining international
acclaim.
Growing up in New York's Greenwich Village, and
working for his parents marionette theatre, Peter began taking
tickets at age 11, and by 19 he was a professional puppeteer.
He performed, directed, and wrote for many of the Bil Baird productions.
He toured internationally with the theatre until his father's
death in 1987, when he began creating on his own.
The Bil Baird
Marionettes, perhaps most remembered for The Little Goatherd
Song in the film The Sound of Music, played Broadway
with their production of Davy Jones' Locker, and also
toured it to India and Russia for the US State Department. Peter
was also involved in the performance of Pinocchio at the 1989
National Festival, and active in "The Shining Time Station",
operating Grace the Bass in the show's Juke Box Puppet Band.
Peter was pivotal
in the Davy Jones Locker project performing the children's pirate
show at the National Festival in 1991, and rewrote the script
with Joseph Jacoby for the film created in 1995. Continuing on
to use more modern forms of puppetry through computer-generated
characters, he worked in hundreds of commercials and industrial
productions. Peter was active on stage, television and films,
such as "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Howard
the Duck".
The MacNider
Art Museum, having the largest holding of Bil Baird puppets,
was visited by Peter several times. Donned in a t-shirt, jeans,
and cowboy boots, Peter rode in on his motorcycle to make a visit
to the Museum in June of 1999. There, he performed an impromptu
performance bringing movement to characters created by his father
for a group of 150 children and adults. Peter shared his love
of puppetry, showing the magic that can be achieved through this
art form.
Baird is survived
by his wife, Mavis Humes Baird, and his sister, Laura Baird Brundage.
Memorial services are being planned in New York and Los Angeles
for August.
A longtime friend
of Peter Baird has established the Peter Baird Endowment Fund
at the MacNider Art Museum to support the care and maintenance
of the treasured Baird Collection and help educate future generations
of the joys of puppetry. Donations can be given in his honor
to the MacNider Art Museum, 303 Second Street SE, Mason City
or by calling 641-421-3666.
Peter is fondly
remembered as a free, independent, and creative spirit. He will
be missed by those who had the pleasure of knowing him, both
young and old.
For more information
on Bil Baird's Collection at the MacNider
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