from the 1939 New York World's Fair, sold for $11,000. Awards and legacy Baird received many awards and honors during his career, including the Medal of Achievement awarded by the Lotos Club of New York and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Iowa. He was also honored in 1980 by the Union International de la Marionette and Puppeteers of America at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In December 1988 Bil Baird's Marionettes played at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York. The play Pinocchio, from the book by Jerome Coopersmith, was produced by Arthur Cantor, and performed by puppeteers Peter B. Baird, Pady Blackwood, Randy Carfagno, Larry Engler, William Tost and Richard Stephen Weber. Mary Rodgers was the composer; Sheldon Harnick wrote the lyrics. (Playbill Vol.88 No.12). References External links The MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa owns and displays the largest collection of Bil Baird marionettes, hand puppets, and ephemera including marionettes used in The Sound of Music. 1904 births 1987 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma American puppeteers Entertainers from Nebraska People from Mason City, Iowa People from Grand Island, Nebraska Deaths from cancer in New York (state)