Cora Baird (January 26, 1912 â December 7, 1967; née Eisenberg, stage name Cora Burlar) was an American puppeteer who started her career as an actor on Broadway. She is best known for puppeteering in The Lonely Goatherd segment of The Sound of Music, and for her numerous TV appearances as a puppeteer with her husband Bil Baird.
Baird was born in New York City to Morris and Anne (née Burlar) Eisenberg. She was the youngest of eight children. Baird's parents were both of Jewish descent, and Yiddish was their native language. Morris was from Russia and Anne from Austria. Before marriage, Cora attended Hunter College, studied dance with Martha Graham, and was a member of the Group Theatre in New York.
Baird appeared in four Broadway productions under the stage name Cora Burlar from age 19 to 25:
Cora Baird met Bil Baird while working on Dr. Faustus. Orson Welles had commissioned Bil to create and manipulate the Seven Deadly Sins puppets, and Cora was hired to voice the Envy puppet. Four weeks after meeting, they married on January 13, 1937. Soon afterwards, they formed the Bil and Cora Baird Marionettes company and worked as a puppeteering team, with Cora as a full partner in puppet design, creation, and performing.
Prior to meeting Cora, Bil Baird had worked with Tony Sarg on the 1928 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, founded Baird Marionettes, nationally toured his puppet show Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves for 40 weeks, and performed at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933.
Cora Baird's most famous work was on The Sound of Music (released April 1, 1965), which won five Oscars, including best picture. Both Bairds puppeteered in The Lonely Goatherd song.
Baird performed as a puppeteer in over 20 TV productions from 1950 to 1963. The Baird Marionettes were covered in Time magazine on December 29, 1958.
Baird was a puppeteer in eight Broadway theater productions from 1943 to 1959. She was credited variously as Cora Baird, Bil and Cora Baird Marionettes, Baird Marionettes, or Bil Baird Marionettes.
The Bil & Cora Baird Theater was located at 59 Barrow Street in Greenwich Village starting in 1964. Their family living space was above the theater. As a full partner in the theater, Baird had various roles including performer, creator, front of house, and administrator. And she kept Peter Baird engaged in the family business. Below is a partial list of the Baird productions that were covered in the press:
The Bairds also did some commercial work. A few of these were:
Early in their careers as a couple, the Bairds performed in night clubs. A few of these were:
Baird married Bil Baird in 1937 when she was 25 years old and he was 33. Baird had two children. Peter Baird was born in 1952 in New York City and Laura Janee Baird was born on April 30, 1955.
Baird died on December 7, 1967 at the age of 54 in a New York City hospital. Despite her illness, she continued to perform until four days prior to her death. Her last performance was in Winnie the Pooh.