Brad Williams

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.

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.

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.

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.

Williams co-founded Pandemonium Puppet Companyin Storrs, Connecticut. He was hired by Warner Communications creating and performing characters for the children's television program Pinwheel. 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. 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. 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.

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.