Trivia

At his theater, Bob created a collection of 4,000 puppets which were expensive, elaborate, and complex in function and design.

Bob Baker's marionette puppets appeared in several movies, commercials for three national hamburger restaurants, and various product advertisements!.

At six years old, Bob Baker's life fascination with puppets began when he saw his first puppet show. Bob took puppet lessons two years later, and performed his first professional show when he was just ten years old.

In 1962, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater opened in Los Angeles at the corner of 1st Street and Glendale Boulevard. Alton Wood was his co-partner. Today, the Theater is the oldest puppet theater in the United States, and the building is designated as a historic and cultural landmark.

At his theater, Bob created the 'Academy of Puppetry and Allied Arts' to train high school students in puppetry skills.

At the age of 90 years old, Bob Baker passed away after spending eighty years in his puppet career.

Bob Baker was a member of AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he belonged to the Animation Branch. At one time, Bob served as a Governor of that branch, which bestows Oscar statues for the best animated movies.

With the decline in public interest in puppetry, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater faced financial insolvency for several years from unpaid property taxes and delinquent mortgage payments. Around 2008, the Ahmanson Foundation and various donors offered temporary assistance. In 2013, the theater was sold, but the puppet collection remained with Bob. The theater was granted a short-term lease by the new owners. The lease expires in March 2015, and the theater's future in uncertain.

In 1955, Bob Baker was an animation advisor to Walt Disney Studios, and Walt gave Bob a personal tour of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, prior to the grand opening!.

Bob Baker was a former president of the Los Angeles Puppet Guild.