Ralph Lee was a puppeteer whose creations included the mask for the recurring Land Shark sketch on “Saturday Night Live.”
- Died: May 12, 2023 (Who else died on May 12?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in New York City after a period of declining health at the age of 87.
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Ralph Lee’s legacy
Lee created an iconic celebration in New York City – the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. He organized the first parade in 1974, designing puppets and masks for parade goers to wield. It was a success, and the parade continues annually to this day, with Lee directing it through 1985. In 1975, he won an Obie Award for his direction of the parade.
Among his many other creations were masks and puppets for the theatre, used by institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was the artistic director for the Mettawee River Theatre Company, and he was a longtime artist-in-residence at New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Lee’s Land Shark mask debuted on the fourth episode of SNL’s first season in 1975. The funny sketch was well received, and it returned sporadically over the next 40 years. Lee later noted that he had cobbled the mask together from bits and pieces lying around his house.
Lee on the Village Halloween Parade
“I made nine old crones, old women. They were on stilts, they had big brooms, and they would sweep the streets at the beginning of the parade. Cleaning the streets of the bad vibes. Making them ready for the people.” —from a 2017 interview for WestView News
Tributes to Ralph Lee
Full obituary: The New York Times
