Oskar Seliaru papers

Oskar Seliaru was born 18 June 1906 in Rakvere, Estonia. Following a brief career as a journalist, he became involved with the theater in 1926, when he joined the Rakvere Näitlejate Ring. He remained part of that company for 10 years, working as an actor and dancer. In 1936, Seliaru relocated to Estonia’s capitol, Tallinn, where he joined the Eesti Draamateater and Nukuteater. During this time, his work focused on three areas: acting, children’s theater and puppetry. Seliaru was the puppet show stage manager and specialist for puppet shows at the Nukuteater.

In the autumn of 1944, Oskar Seliaru fled Estonia for Germany, where he spent the next six years in displaced persons camps, primarilly Augsburg-Haunstetten and Geislingen. Upon his arrival at Augsburg, he quickly joined a theater company. In 1946, he launched his own puppet theater company, Eesti Nukuteater and Seli Marionetid, with the December premiere of his original puppet production “See oli unenägu.” The company realized immediate success with their production and traveled to many displaced persons camps throughout Germany, performing for both children and adults of many nationalities. They performed “See oli unenägu” more than 70 times and staged several other productions over the next few years.

Oskar Seliaru arrived in the United States in April of 1950. In 1952, he became the director of the New Yorgi Eesti Teater. He directed and acted in performances staged by various New York Estonian theater companies until at least 1960, while simultaneously directing and acting in performances at the Lakewood Estonian Club in New Jersey. As of June 1956, Seliaru had acted in 27 productions since leaving Estonia, 17 of which he had self-directed, in addition to his puppet productions. Overall he had performed 310 times since leaving Estonia in 1944.

Seliaru was an active member of the Estonian theater scene in New York and New Jersey; he continued to attend productions and support organizations even after he was no longer formally involved with the performances. There is little information about Seliaru’s puppetry career after his immigration to America. His success as an actor, comedian and director is better documented. Oskar Seliaru died 14 June 1978 in Long Island, New York.