Walton and O'Rourke

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Walton and O'Rourke (Paul E. Walton and Michael O'Rourke) were a famous team of cabaret puppeteers who founded the Olvera Street Puppet Theatre in Hollywood in 1935.

WIthin the puppeteering community Walton and O'Rourke were considered one of the finest teams of puppet showmen the U.S. ever produced. Some of their marionettes used as many as seven strings to control a single marionette arm.

Walton and O'Rourke appeared on Broadway in the 1941 Olsen and Johnson review Sons o' Fun.

The only known filmed record of their work is the 1953 motion picture Lili, in which they performed using hand puppets rather than the marionettes for which they were most famous. For the film "Lili", Walton & O'Rourke made the puppets; George Latshaw manipulated Carrot Top; Wolo manipulated Golo the Giant; and Walton and O'Rourke manipulated Margurite and Reynardo.