Puppet is a work of fiction...
… rooted in the the very real and magical world of TV puppetry.
For over 40 years, Bob has been bringing inanimate characters to life. After a years long apprenticeship with legendary puppetry teacher, Nikki Tilroe, of Toronto’s Frog Print Theatre, Bob moved from live performing to film and TV. Six seasons with the Muppets served as a master class in TV puppetry which in turn led to an award-winning career in front of (and below) the camera on such series as The Friendly Giant, Today’s Special, Fraggle Rock, The Jim Henson Hour, Sesame Park, Under The Umbrella Tree, The Big Comfy Couch and others.
In this section you can see photos of many of these iconic shows and characters.
Bob’s Experience
Under the Umbrella Tree
Bob puppeteered Iggy Iguana on over 300 episodes and wrote 80 of the scripts. The show aired on CBC from 1987 - 1993 and was later syndicated on the Disney Channel, bringing the wacky crew to a whole new US audience.
Holly Laroque, Gloria Gopher (Noreen Young) and Jacob Bluejay (Steve Brathwaite).
Iggy gives fielding tips to Devon White.
Fraggle Rock
The original Fraggle Series was taped at VTR Studios in Toronto from 1981 - ‘86.
Puppeteering Boober (only because Dave Goelz is busy with Philo).
Shooting publicity stills with Jim Henson and Travelling Matt.
From the episode about Red’s sea monster with assistance from Tim Gosley.
Felix the Fearless, the incompetent head of the Fraggle Rescue Squad.
Puppeteering Travelling Matt as he plants the Fraggle flag on the roof of the CN Tower restaurant.
With Wander McMooch, Fraggle’s only bad guy.
The Friendly Giant
Bob puppeteered Fiddle, the drumming cat.
Cast and crew photo taken after Friendly’s last show, Jan. 27, 1986.
Sesame Park
Bob started as a writer for Canadian Sesame Street which later became Sesame Park, at which point Bob took over the character of Basil the polar bear from Tim Gosley who left for another series.
Basil, Louis the Otter and Dodi the bush pilot (Pierre Paquette and Noreen Young).
In the Muppet world, sets are built 1.5 meters off the ground.
The great Ernie Coombs, Mr. Dressup.
The Big Comfy Couch
The clown world of The Big Comfy Couch was created by Cheryl Wagner and Rob Mills. In addition to puppeteering Molly, Snicklefritz and Wuzzy the Dustbunny, Bob was also a writer on the series.
With Comfy castmates, Snicklefritz and Molly Dolly.
Occasionally during the six seasons Bob got to climb out from under the couch and dust off his unicycle.
Harry DSB
Harry, the purple puppet, appeared in over a hundred commercials for the Danish National Railway (DSB), shot mainly in and around Copenhagen.
This wonderful rig allowed Harry to ride as a bicycle passenger through the city.
Harry became a huge star in Denmark, but shooting on the trains was never easy.
Fernsby’s Cryptid Critter Control
A wonderful pilot series created by the brilliant, Matt Ficner, with Matt as Joe, Mike Peterson as Rusty the robot, and Bob as Toobin.
Matt’s creativity is boundless!
Ruffus the Dog
Bob says, “The most fun I ever had puppeteering was on the YTV series, Ruffus the Dog. The show used an ensemble cast of puppet characters and puppeteers who performed different roles in each episode. The scripts were all based on iconic stories like, The Three Little Pigs or The Emperor’s New Clothes. We even tried our hands at Jules Verne and Sinbad the Sailor. A puppeteer’s dream”
Rob Mills as Ruffus, Fred Stinson as the cow and Bob doing cow butt.
Shelly the turtle.