Pady Blackwood was born in Kansas City in 1939. At an early age he somehow knew his passion in life was to be a puppeteer. He began doing puppet shows for the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department as a teen.

After graduating from high school, he soon connected with professional puppeteers, toured the Midwest doing marionette shows and at the age of 21 moved to New York City. Over his more than 40 year career he worked on Broadway, in the movies, on television, at numerous theme parks, with symphony orchestras and as the sole puppeteer for the NEW Howdy Doody Show in the 1970’s.

Pady returned to his roots in 2003 as Artist in Residence at the Puppetry Arts Institute for three years. He then retired to Florida and passed away in 2009.

Our featured display presents cabaret marionettes from Pady’s stage shows and photos that highlight his talents. Also on display are marionettes created for PAI shows “The Littlest Angel”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “Saw Dust Circus” and “Lewis and Clark: A Dog’s Eye View”.