Puppetteer, Entertainer. He was born William Britton Baird. Cause of death was pneumonia and bone marrow cancer. He and his wife Cora Baird, were the driving forces behind the Bil & Cora Baird Puppets, and were pioneer entertainers in U.S. TV, when commercial television was taking its first steps. Their medium  was their marionettes – was strictly visual, and the audience was regaled. Their first venture on TV, a 15-minute program called “Life with Snarky Parker” (1950) was directed by none other than Yul Brynner. They and their puppets went on to star in other shows, and they were featured performers on CBS’s attempt to wrest away some of the audience from NBC’s “Today” show with its “The Morning Show” (1954), which initially featured their principal newsman, Walter Cronkite. The Baird Puppets provided the visual enhancement for Art Carney’s narration of the 1958 ABC-TV special, “Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf.” He spelled his name Bil with one L “just to be different.” His filmography includes “Let Me Hear You Whisper” (1969), “The Sound of Music” (1965), “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (1959), “Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf” (1958), “Shirley Temple’s Storybook” (1958), “The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays” (1957), “Adventures in Numbers & Space” (1956), “Life with Snarky Parker” (1950), “Dark Shadows,” “Max Liebman Presents: Promenade” (1955), “Max Liebman Presents: Variety” (1955), and “The Whistling Wizard” (1951). (bio by: Genet) Cause of death: Pneumonia