- Source: Oskar Seliaru
Oskar Leenart Seliaru (born Oskar Leenart Schelbach; June 18, 1906 – June 14, 1978 New York) was an Estonian actor, director, and puppeteer.
Early life and education
Oskar Seliaru was born in Rakvere, Estonia, the son of Jüri Schelbach (later Seliaru, 1875–1944) and Marie Schelbach (later Seliaru, née Vilu, 1875–?). He attended at Rakvere High School, and he participated in the Estonian War of Independence as a schoolboy. In his youth he was also engaged in journalism and was an athlete (shooting and equestrianism).
Career
Seliaru started performing on the stage in 1926 in the Rakvere Actors' Circle, and he was an actor at the Drama Theater from 1936 to 1944, where he directed a puppet troupe and a was a puppet technician.
In 1944, he fled to Germany. He founded the puppet troupe Sel's Marionettes (Estonian: Seli marionetid) there, and he performed from 1945 to 1950 with his own puppet plays, including See oli unenägu (It Was a Dream) and Seitse ühe hoobiga (Seven in One Blow). He relocated to New York in 1950 and directed and acted at the New York Estonian Theater.
Productions
1943: Pöialpoiss (The Dwarf) by Anna Brigadere
1944: Haldjas Kastetilk (The Fairy Dewdrop) by Lo Tui
1952: Mees merelt (The Man from the Sea) by August Mälk
1955: Püve talus (At the Püve Farm) by August Kitzberg
1960: Mikumärdi by Hugo Raudsepp
1963: Oskar Lutsu õhtu (An Evening of Oskar Luts)
Roles
1936: Tölpa in Nukitsamees (Bumpy) by Oskar Luts
1937: The Wolf in Pauka by Aadu Laabus
1938: Erik Sture in Erik XIV by August Strindberg
1940: Napoleon in Bóg wojny (The God of War, Estonian title: Tseesar ja inimene) by Adolf Nowaczyński
1942: Baron Lövenborg in Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf
1952: Kapral in Tagahoovis (In the Back Yard) by Oskar Luts, adapted by Andres Särev
1952: Laas Räimes in Mees merelt (The Man from the Sea) by August Mälk
1960: Jüri Tomusk in Mikumärdi by Hugo Raudsepp
Family
Seliaru became engaged to the Estonian actress, director, and costume designer Lo Tui in February 1937, and they were married in Tallinn on May 1, 1937. Oskar Seliaru erroneously sought to have Lo Tui declared legally dead in 1951 because he believed that she had been killed during the Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states in 1944.
