OUR HISTORY
WHO WAS BOB BAKER?
In 1930, Bob Baker saw his first puppet show in his native Los Angeles and shortly thereafter established his own “Petit Theatre” in the backyard of his home on New Hampshire Avenue. By age eight, Bob had trained with several different Los Angeles-based companies before giving his first professional performance for legendary Hollywood director Mervyn Leroy.
While attending Hollywood High School, Bob began manufacturing toy marionettes that sold both in Europe and the United States. Following graduation, he began an apprenticeship at George Pal Animation Studios that resulted in a promotion to head animator of Puppetoons, a landmark studio that produced animated stop-motion puppet films.
L to R: Alouysius the Birthday Dog, Bob Baker, Happy the Birthday Dog, Alton Wood, Percy the Birthday Dog
In 1963, Bob Baker and partner Alton Wood transformed a run-down scenic shop near downtown Los Angeles into a family entertainment institution: Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Named an official Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2009, the Theater has served over ONE MILLION children with original shows ranging from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker to a musical journey through the history of Los Angeles.
After Bob’s passing in 2014 at the age of 90, the puppeteers and staff had to transition to being the stewards of both the past and the future of Bob’s beloved Theater. Each box that was packed and moved from our historic home at 1345 W. 1st Street to our new Theater in Highland Park carried a story of a puppeteer or fabricator who had contributed to the fabric of the Theater. From Morton Haack to John Leland, Tina Gainsboro to Ursula Heine… our Theater family numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands.
We have spent the past decade doing everything possible to preserve this essential part of puppet history, and an irreplaceable part of Los Angeles history as well. We look forward to another 60 years (at least!) of puppetry joy in LA and beyond.
