Son of Ralph Chesse, brother of Dion Chesse, and uncle of Matt Chesse, Bruce Chesse is a second-generation puppeteer with over three decades of experience.
As the Artistic Director for the Oregon Puppet Theatre, Bruce is an internationally recognized expert in puppet design, manipulation, acting, directing, teaching, and authoring. His passion for puppetry is twofold, believing it to be an inherently theatrical medium that allows individuals of all ages and skill levels to excel.
With a professional puppetry career spanning over 40 years, Bruce has performed and taught in various locations around the world, including Ethiopia, Scandinavia, Japan, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States. He has also worked extensively in schools, including a stint as an artist-in-residence for Alaska Arts Education.
A professional actor-puppeteer and director, Bruce has performed in movies, television, and theater productions, including a long tenure in the San Francisco Bay Area alongside his father Ralph and brother Dion. He was a member of the San Francisco Boy's Chorus from 1948 to 1949 and later lived in Los Angeles, where he worked at the Melodyland Theater in Anaheim and the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California.
In 1980, Bruce relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he has continued to create and perform puppetry, including commissioned works, giant parade puppets, and puppet programs for video and television. One of his notable collaborations was with Susan Barthel on the production "Frog Line News," a media CD-ROM on water conservation produced by New Media Magic in 1999.
Bruce has also worked on a series of vegetable promos for Odyssey Productions, Inc., titled "Vegetables Want Your Vote," which was presented at the National Steinbeck Center in 2002. In 2003, he was a puppeteer in "The Big Sneeze," a Baroque Puppet Opera with The Carter Family Marionettes, and played the role of King Lear for the Gallery Theater in McMinnville, Oregon.
Throughout his career, Bruce has remained active in the Portland theater scene, continuing to work on films and theater productions.
