Steven Allan Golden was born on April 30, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois. He developed an interest in puppets at an early age and went on to become a member of the ensemble that earned an Emmy for Outstanding Accomplishment in Children's Programming for the television show "The Magic Door", which was a Jewish educational show in the late 60's, while working at Ray Nelson's Puppet Place in Chicago. In the early 70's, he joined Bobby Clark's touring puppet company show of "Pinocchio", which performed at such prestigious venues as the Huntington Hartford Theater in Hollywood, as it traveled across the country. In the mid 70's, he performed "The Wizard of Oz" for the National Marionette Company in Chicago. Upon returning, he worked again at Ray Nelson's Puppet Place, doing both touring and in-house shows through the late 70's.

Moving to Inglewood, California, with his mother in 1980, Steve took a job at the Animal Lovers Pet Shop in Torrance where he sold and groomed exotic birds. Returning to puppetry full-time, he spent several years in San Francisco, working at the Olde World Puppet Theatre, where he built and performed puppets from the late 80's to the early 90's, frequently at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Upon his return to Inglewood, he got a job with the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and worked there doing children's birthday parties and other performances. He was a member of the Chicagoland Puppetry Guild, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry, and the Puppeteers of America, for which he worked at the Puppetry Store run by them at their national festivals for many years.

An avid collector of puppets for all his life, his philanthropic efforts included donations of several Verna Finley ventriloquist dummies and the dummies of Ruby Wilson and BB King (from the estate of BB King), a King Triton puppet and a Little Mermaid puppet from his collection to the Portland Puppet Museum, enhancing their current collection, as well as many other donations to other museums. He also sent many books on 3D filming and made numerous connections to experts and organizations developing 3D filming technology, to The Puppet Company in Chicago, because he was an ardent supporter of developing 3D puppet filming technology.

With a heart of gold, Steve was a devoted friend to the renowned puppet collector Alan Cook and helped him tremendously at the International Puppetry Museum (IPM) in Pasadena as a board member of their board of directors, where he curated and restored their puppet collection. Steve lived with Alan in Alan's home in Altadena, assisting Alan with every aspect of daily life, and in Alan's final years of declining health at the end of his life, Steve was there to help him in every way possible, never asking for compensation or assistance.

Steve had a great love of animals, especially exotic birds, of which he owned several, that spanned his entire life, eventually leading him to a career as an exotic bird sales representative at For Birds Only in West Hollywood for many years. He was also an active member of the West Los Angeles Bird Club, with many great friends there, and was one of their team that did the natural products show for years. After leaving his job at the bird store, Steve moved to North Hollywood in late 2020.

Steve had Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for many years but had fought it into remission in 2021. Shortly after that he was diagnosed with Amyloidosis, which resulted in a rapid decline in his physical strength and balance. Steven Allan Golden passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, California. He was seventy-seven.

Steve’s sharp wit, vast knowledge, loving nature, outgoing personality, and fabulous demeanor will be sorely missed by all those who knew him. Rest in peace, Steven!

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