Ralph Lee, Puppeteer Who Created ‘SNL’ Land Shark, Dead at 87

Ralph Lee, the innovative puppeteer who created New York’s Village Halloween Parade and the elaborate land shark puppet that ate Gilda Radner and many other Saturday Night Live cast members in sketches, died at his Manhattan home on Friday. He was 87. His wife, Casey Compton, told the New Tork Times his health was declining in recent months.

The Westbeth Artists Housing and Center for the Arts also announced Lee’s death over the weekend. “He was a gentle beloved figure of immense creative vision in the Westbeth community and the world– which is now a lonelier place without him. Our hearts go to his wide Casey and his family,” the center said in a statement.

Lee was a writer, producer, and actor, but was considered one of the most innovative and prolific creators in the puppetry field. He built masks and figures for his Mettawee River Theater Company, as well as the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City Opera, and Theater for the New City.

However, Lee’s most famous work outside New York City was the land shark. Introduced during Candice Bergen’s SNL episode, the land shark was featured in a sketch called “Jaws II.” In this first sketch, the land shark, voiced by Chevy Chase, would knock on a woman’s door pretending to be a salesman or repairman. When they opened the door, the shark would attack. Between each scene, Matt Hooper (John Belushi) and Chief Brody (Dan Aykroyd) are seen going over the shark’s dirty work.

The land shark made frequent appearances in early SNL episodes. Bobby Moynihan played the shark in the 40th anniversary special, where “Weekend Update” was interrupted by a doorbell. Jane Curtin warned Tina Fey not to open the door because the land shark could be on the other side. Fey opened the door anyway and the shark tried to eat her.

Lee’s most lasting contribution to New York City is the Village Halloween Parade. He first staged it in 1974 in Greenwich Village, with the help of George Bartenieff and Crystal Field of Theater for the New City. Expectations were modest, but it soon grew to become an annual tradition. In 1985, it was moved to the Avenue of the Americas.

Lee was born on July 9, 1935, in Middlebury, Vermont. He was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, where he starred in his first play. He also developed an interest in puppetry at an early age. After graduating from Amherst College in 1957, he got a Fulbright scholarship to study in Europe before he began his theater career in New York. He is survived by three children from his first marriage, his daughter from his second marriage, six grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.