Brad Williams (puppeteer)

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.[1][2]

Brad Williams
Williams in 1987
Born(1951-01-08)January 8, 1951
White Plains, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 17, 1993(1993-10-17) (aged 42)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.[1]
EducationHope College, University of Connecticut
OccupationPuppeteer, designer, teacher
Years active1972–1993
Known forPinwheel
Board member ofPandemonium Puppet Company
Union Internationale de la Marionnette
Association for Theatre in Higher Education
Screen Actors Guild

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.[3]

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.[4]

Career
Zabar, Brad's alter ego rod puppet, was part of the acting company at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in the summer of 1988

Williams grew up watching the Kulka, 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.[5][6][7]

Williams co-founded Pandemonium Puppet Company, creating and performing characters for the children's television program Pinwheel.[8] 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.[9] 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.[8]

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.[4]

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.[9][10] 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.[11]

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.[1]

References
  1. Published: October 20, 1993 (1993-10-20). "Bradford C. Williams Puppeteer, 42 - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  2. http://www.filmreference.com/film/15/Bradford-Cody-Williams.html FilmReference: Brad Williams
  3. http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/puppetry/ Archived 2013-05-26 at the Wayback Machine O'Neill Puppetry Conference
  4. Published: July 2011 (July 2011). "Robert Williams : March 2, 1922 - July 11, 2011 : Holland, MI - Dykstra Funeral Home". Dykstrafuneralhome.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  5. "Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society". Sdhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/19/nyregion/it-s-puppets-all-over-at-the-stamford-museum.html NY Times article on Stamford Museum Exhibition
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-05-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Faculty UCONN
  8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19920820&id=rZRGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JPgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4797,4190939 Newspaper Article
  9. "The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry". Sp.uconn.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  10. BESS LIEBENSONPublished: May 19, 1996 (1996-05-19). "It's Puppets All Over at the Stamford Museum - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  11. http://advance.uconn.edu/1997/970523/05239715.htm University of Connecticut Exhibition Advance Notice
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