Larry Smith (June 23, 1938 – February 19, 2018) was an American

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

and producer of children's programming in the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

area since 1957. His most notable work was a popular afternoon puppet/cartoon show airing on

WXIX WXIX-TV (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, United States, serving the Cincinnati metro as the market's Fox affiliate. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Cozi TV affiliate WBQC-LD (channel 25). ...

Television. Smith was raised in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater ...

. At the age of five he began a lifelong fascination with puppets, learning to make them at home using items around the house as store-bought materials were expensive. He made his television debut in 1952, and he began his professional career two years later at

WHIO The blue duck or whio (''Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos'') is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus ''Hymenolaimus''. Its exact taxonomic status is still unresolved, but i ...

television. After high school Smith attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

and the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. In 1955 Smith met Burr Tillstrom, creator of the Kukla, Fran and Ollie show. In 1957 Smith auditioned for, and won a part on ''

The Uncle Al Show ''The Uncle Al Show'' was a children's television program originating in Cincinnati. The show was hosted by Cleveland native Al Lewis (1924–2009) (not to be confused with the actor who played Grandpa on ''The Munsters''), and later was co-hos ...

''; officially he served on WCPO's art department, but he performed puppets. Smith was with ''The Uncle Al Show'' for six years. Smith achieved his greatest fame by the late 1960s, when he went to then-new TV station

in Cincinnati to host an afternoon puppet/cartoon show which came to be called ''Larry Smith's Cartoon Club'', which he hosted throughout the 70s. Smith and his puppets were the first stars of WXIX when they performed on the station's sign-on ceremony in August 1968. Some of the puppets/characters he created include: :Hattie the Witch ''(also called "Battie Hattie From Cincinnati")'' :Snarfie the Dog ''(a.k.a. Snarfie R. Dog)'' :Big Red the Red Rock-Eater ''(who lived in "The Dirty Dingy Dungeon")'' :Teaser the Mouse :Rudy the Rooster Smith ostensibly retired in 2000, but made occasional appearances with his puppets until his death on February 19, 2018.Puppeteer behind ‘Hattie the Witch’, ‘Uncle Al show’ dies
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Larry 1938 births 2018 deaths American puppeteers Television personalities from Cincinnati Ohio State University alumni People from Dayton, Ohio