Quick Facts
Biography
Bradford C. Williams (January 8, 1951 – October 17, 1993), known as Brad Williams, was an American puppeteer, designer and teacher from White Plains, New York. He died from injuries sustained in a car crash 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.
Career
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.
Williams co-founded Pandemonium Puppet Company, creating and performing characters for Nickelodeon's Pinwheel. He was the main actor of Nickelodeon's 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.
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. Williams' contribution to the field of puppetry was also recognised 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.