George Latshaw

George Latshaw was a puppeteer, puppet builder, and author who did so much for the Muppets and the Henson Company during the 1960s and later in 1990. He performed Featherstone and one of the Stepsisters in the 1965 pilot Cinderella, where he performed with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson. George previously met Henson himself at the 1960 Puppeteers of America festival in Detroit, and I guess that's how he was recruited. Latshaw was probably occupied with other projects after 1965 to do more Muppet stuff like the Tales from Muppetland specials, The Muppet Show pilots, or anything in the 1980s. Outside, he founded Puppeteers of America's official magazine entitled The Puppetry Journal, in 1949 served as the organization president the following year. He later worked with historic puppeteer Burr Tillstrom and also performed a puppet in a 1953 film known as Lili. Several years later, in 1990, George Latshaw served as one of the founding members of The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Center, with Jane Henson and others. He also wrote plays for both puppets and actors such as Pinocchio, The Bear that Played the Bijou, as well as writing two books; Puppetry: The Ultimate Disguise and The Complete Book of Puppetry. Apparently, during the 1980s and 1990s, he served as a teacher, director, critic, and consultant to countless puppeteers, which would explain why he didn't do Muppet projects during those decades. It looks like George has done so much to the world of puppetry that he even got an award named after him in 1999. Unfortunately, Latshaw's life came to an end for in 2006 he died. Even though he's gone now, he will always be known as one of the earliest puppeteers to do a Jim Henson production. And who would've thought Muppet Wiki would write about him just recently? George Latshaw, you brought puppetry to life with your contributions to Puppeteers of America as well as co-founding The National Puppetry Conference. Lots of people still remember you to this day because of how much good work you've done. I hope you reunited with Henson and Nelson up in heaven. There wouldn't be any puppetry conference without you George. RIP Latshaw!