Uruguayan puppeteer. At the age of fourteen, Antonio W. Rodriguez began his career as a puppeteer. In 1948, he moved to Montevideo where he constructed his own puppet theatre and, with his Títeres Pinocho (Pinocchio Puppets), he performed in the squares and schools of the city and crisscrossed the interior of Uruguay. In 1954, he joined the troupe, Teatro de Títeres Maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Theatre), at that time directed by Irma Abirad. This group, consisting of twelve puppeteers, henceforth performed at the municipal theatre and toured Uruguay, Brazil and the coast of Argentina.

In 1957, Antonio W. Rodríguez became the head of another troupe, called Mascarin, based in the Teatro de la Mascara de Montevideo (Mask Theatre of Montevideo) before founding his own puppet theatre group in 1960, Abuelo Tono (Grandfather Tono). From 1973, he settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he created in 1991 another puppet theatre, El Pirincho, and continued his activites of promoting puppetry to children and adults.

(See Uruguay.)