Sunday 17 August 2014

Belsa is missing!

In the late 1920’s Waldo Lanchester decided to make some larger 20 inch marionettes. Up until this point her had been making and performing smaller 8 and 12 inch marionettes together with his puppetry partner Harry Whanslaw at The London Marionette Theatre.
Some of the first marionettes he made were two twin clowns called Baldo and Belsa, named after himself and his sister Elsa Lanchester, the Hollywood actress.

These two clowns remained with Waldo all his life, after he left The London marionette Theatre they became iconic images of the Lanchester Marionettes used within their circus show but also publicity, photographs of Waldo and Muriel Lanchester. Waldo even had a portrait painted with one.



In 2006 The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild acquired several of the Lanchester Marionettes including their Grand Circus Show. Including with the puppets was the marionette of Baldo, but not Belsa. Belsa had gone missing several years earlier and despite attempts to find her, she’d gone.


The two puppets had been together for almost 75 years to suddenly be split is tragic. Therefore I am now aiming to get them back together, to reunite brother and sister and a famous comic act that needs to perform together again.


How are we going to do this? We need your help, below are several pictures that you can post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest – anywhere you can! We also have a video on YouTube here


For the large file of this poster please click here
for the small file please click here

For the large file of this poster please click here
for the small file please click here

for the small file please click here

We really need this to go viral, in the hope that someone, somewhere will find Belsa and reunite her with Baldo…after all he’s missing her dreadfully! Anyone who thinks they may know where she might be or has any information can email me at archivisit@puppetguild.org.uk

Thanks for your help! I will keep you posted on here if we hear anything!

Michael Dixon
Hon.Archivist The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild.