Bernice Silver

Bernice Silver (October 7, 1913 – April 18, 2020)[1] was an American puppeteer and activist, known in her field as "the Queen of Potpourri", referring to the combination of puppetry, storytelling, music, and politics in her open-mic performances.

Bernice Silver
An older woman with large round glasses, wearing a costume with a peaked hood; in black-and-white newspaper photo from 1978.
Bernice Silver, from a 1978 newspaper.
BornOctober 7, 1913
Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 18, 2020(2020-04-18) (aged 106)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Puppeteer, activist

Early life

Silver was born in 1913, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the eldest of eight children born to Samuel Silver and Frances Resnikoff Silver. Her parents were Jewish.[2] Her father was a salesman and ran a candy shop.[1]

Career

Silver worked in schools and factories as a young woman, and sold encyclopedias and other products door-to-door. She joined workers' theatre groups, including Theatre Advance, and performed at demonstrations and strikes.[3] Her one Broadway credit was in the original cast of Thornton Wilder's Our Town in 1938.[4]

Silver began performing with puppets by the 1960s.[1] "It's one of the oldest professions in the world," she explained in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2013, "It covers many, many artistic professions."[5] She toured New York state with Pete Seeger and others, billed as the "Vagabond Puppeteers".[6] She was active in the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York (PGOGNY),[7] and was known as "the Queen of Potpourri",[8] because her open-mic performances were a mix of puppetry, stories, folk songs, costumes, and political messages.[9][10] She entertained at children's events in the New York area for decades,[11] and later in life she used audience expectations about her advanced age in her comedy.[12]

Silver appeared in the documentary Puppet Rampage (2008). In 2011, she went kayaking for the first time, with the NYC Friends of Clearwater.[13] She spoke at a fundraiser for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in 2016.[14] The Puppeteers of America offered a Bernice Silver Festival Grant, to fund senior attendees at the organization's national festivals.[15]

Personal life

Silver broke her hip and required a foot amputation in 2014;[12] she moved to the Lillian Booth Actors Home in 2016. That year, she commented on her delight in voting for a woman for president.[16] She died in April 2020, from respiratory failure with coronavirus, in Englewood, New Jersey. She was 106 years old.[1][17] In October 2020, a Virtual Puppet Con was held by the Puppeteers of America, dedicated to the memory of Bernice Silver, during the week of her 107th birthday.[8]

References
  1. Green, Penelope (2020-05-21). "Bernice Silver, Impish Puppeteer and Activist, Dies at 106". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  2. "Bernice Silver, 106, New York, N.Y. - Enjoyed puppetry and people, dedicated to social justice". Chabad News. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  3. Bell, John (2001). Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects. MIT Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-262-52293-9.
  4. "Our Town". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  5. Palmer, Chris (August 11, 2013). "Puppets take over Swarthmore". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  6. "Education and Propaganda". World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts. 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  7. Chang, Julia (April 26, 2011). "NYPL Celebrates National Day of Puppetry". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  8. "Puppet Con 2020 – Western Massachusetts Puppetry Guild". Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  9. Corwin, Lois (August 2011). "Festival Review" (PDF). Garden State Puppetry Guild: 6.
  10. Kambhampaty, Anna Purna (December 18, 2020). "The Lives Lost to Coronavirus: Bernice Silver". Time. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  11. Martin, Jo (1978-06-02). "Young Treats at Old Site". Daily News. p. 69. Retrieved 2020-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Andrew (2014-10-08). "Happy Birthday Bernice Silver". PuppetVision Blog. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  13. Stein, Donna (July 25, 2011). "Bernice Silver, 97 Years Young Goes Kayaking!". New York Friends of Clearwater. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  14. Churnakoses, Anne (May 12, 2016). "Rock On to Clean the Hudson River!: A Fundraiser for Clearwater". Trash Talker. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  15. "Bernice Silver Festival Grant". Puppeteers of America. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  16. "Bernice". iwaited96years. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  17. "RIP Bernice Silver" (PDF). The New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club Newsletter. 55: 3. June 2020.
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