Sergey Obraztsov

SERGEY OBRAZTSOV d1992. Soviet and Russian puppeteer who is credited by the Encyclopædia Britannica with "establishing puppetry as an art form in the Soviet Union." Puppet theaters in many countries owe their establishment to his influence. His collection of exotic puppets was the largest in Russia and one of the largest in the world. Between 1922 and 1931, he worked as an actor with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko in one of the studios of the Moscow Art Theatre. During this period, he staged several vaudeville-style puppet shows before going on to set up the State Central Puppet Theatre in Moscow in 1931. His theatre toured more than 350 cities in the USSR and 90 cities in foreign countries. During his numerous tours abroad, he helped to popularize artistic puppetry in the United States / Britain and other countries. He also directed the first short-length puppet film under the title Looking at a Polar Sunset Ray in 1938 and also a number of documentaries. He died aged 90 on 8th May 1992