Brad Williams (puppeteer) explained

Brad Williams
Birth Date:8 January 1951
Birth Place:White Plains, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.[1]
Education:Hope College, University of Connecticut
Occupation:Puppeteer, designer, teacher
Years Active:1972–1993
Known For:Pinwheel
Boards:Pandemonium Puppet Company
Union Internationale de la Marionnette
Association for Theatre in Higher Education
Screen Actors Guild

Bradford Cody "Brad" Williams (January 8, 1951 – October 17, 1993) was an American puppeteer, designer and teacher. He died from injuries sustained in a car accident at the age of 42.[2] [3]

He is named as one of the puppet artists whose legacy inspired the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Puppetry Conference, an annual celebration of contemporary puppet theatre.[4]

Early life

Bradford Cody Williams was born to Robert Cody "Bob" Williams and Patricia Packard Williams on January 8, 1951 in White Plains, New York.[5]

Career

Williams grew up watching the Kukla, Fran and Ollie show and, after working with its creator Burr Tillstrom on the 25 year retrospective show, he enrolled at University of Connecticut and gained a Master of Fine Arts degree in puppet arts.[6] [7] [8]

Williams co-founded Pandemonium Puppet Company, creating and performing characters for the children's television program Pinwheel.[9] He was the main actor of the television program Hocus Focus and also appears on the show credits as a graphic artist. He has also been described as a master calligrapher and logo designer, having created the logo for the 1989 Puppeteers of America Festival.[10] He toured extensively with live puppet shows – often with his personal hand and rod puppet Zabar, an extraterrestrial found wandering the streets of the Upper West Side.

Death

Williams was struck by a car on October 17, 1993, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was rushed to Butterworth Hospital, where he later died due to complications from his injuries, aged 42. He is survived by his mother, his sister Lorma Williams Freestone, his brother-in-law Kenneth Dale Freestone, and his nieces and nephews Aubrey Freestone Garcia and her husband, Manny Garcia; Cody Scott Freestone and his wife, Amber Emery, and Robert Schrader and Wayne Schrader. Williams' father died at his home on July 11, 2011 at the age of 89.

Exhibitions

His work was featured in a 1996 exhibition called Puppetronics at Stamford Museum and Nature Centre, with puppets displayed including his Rex and Rita Readasaurus characters, which were created for Barbara Bush's American literacy program.[11] Williams' contribution to the field of puppetry was also recognized in a 1997 exhibition at the University of Connecticut's Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.[12]

Teaching and volunteer work

Williams' obituary in The New York Times noted his teaching and volunteer work, which included artist in residence roles at Ithaca College and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He received a certificate of appreciation from the City of New York for his work in the pediatrics ward at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Published: October 20, 1993 . Bradford C. Williams Puppeteer, 42 - New York Times . . 1993-10-20 . 2013-05-27.
  2. Web site: Published: October 20, 1993 . Bradford C. Williams Puppeteer, 42 - New York Times . . 1993-10-20 . 2013-05-27.
  3. Web site: Bradford Cody Williams Biography (1951-) . 2023-02-06 . www.filmreference.com.
  4. http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/puppetry/ O'Neill Puppetry Conference
  5. Web site: Published: July 2011 . Robert Williams : March 2, 1922 - July 11, 2011 : Holland, MI - Dykstra Funeral Home . Dykstrafuneralhome.com . July 2011. 2019-02-20 .
  6. Web site: Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society . Sdhistoricalsociety.org . 2013-05-27.
  7. News: Liebenson . Bess . 1996-05-19 . It's Puppets All Over at the Stamford Museum . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-06 . 0362-4331.
  8. Web site: The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry . 2013-05-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131214185927/http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~wwwsfa/library_artists_williams.htm . 2013-12-14 . Faculty UCONN
  9. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19920820&id=rZRGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JPgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4797,4190939 Newspaper Article
  10. Web site: The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry . Sp.uconn.edu . 2013-05-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131214185927/http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~wwwsfa/library_artists_williams.htm . 2013-12-14 .
  11. Web site: BESS LIEBENSONPublished: May 19, 1996 . It's Puppets All Over at the Stamford Museum - New York Times . . 1996-05-19 . 2013-05-27.
  12. http://advance.uconn.edu/1997/970523/05239715.htm University of Connecticut Exhibition Advance Notice