Paul Vincent Davis

Paul Vincent Davis (January 5, 1935 – August 4, 2025) was an American puppeteer, director, and teacher whose career spanned more than five decades. Renowned for his clarity of performance and storytelling and his excellence in glove-puppet technique, he served for over 30 years as Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, Massachusetts. He created more than a dozen full-length productions, and was recognized with five UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence—the highest national puppetry award—as well as the Puppeteers of America President’s Award. As a mentor and teacher, he trained new generations of puppeteers—most notably Brad Shur—whose work continued Davis’s legacy on the New England stage.

Early life and education Davis was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1935 and raised in Alexandria. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William & Mary. He also performed as an actor and folk singer. Davis’s early puppetry focused on serious pieces for adults—Samuel Beckett adaptations, Japanese folk dramas, and medieval miracle plays—commissioned by groups like the Repertory Puppet Theater of Washington, D.C. In 1997, he became executive director of Puppet Showplace Theater, and after retiring as a performer in 2007, he continued to teach as Resident Artist Emeritus. In 2020, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry commemorated Davis with a major retrospective exhibition showcasing his puppets, sets, and storytelling legacy. In 2023, UNIMA-USA honored him with a Special Citation, calling him “an Artist par Excellence of American Puppetry.”

Personal life In 1976, at an international puppetry conference in Moscow, Davis met Mary Churchill, who became his artistic partner and lifelong companion. Churchill died in 1997. Davis died at his home in West Roxbury on August 4, 2025, at age 90.

Legacy Davis is a glove puppetry performer and designer. He has contributed to the Boston puppetry community and the American puppet theater through his creative work and mentorship.