Baker, of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in downtown Los Angeles, was just a teenager when he began working for Pal's studio on the "Puppetoons."
"He was wonderful," recalled Baker. "He was very European . . . you enjoyed him for that reason. Consequently some of his stories got a very European twist, which, as I look back on it, was a different way of storytelling."
"He was just perfect," echoed Young, who worked with Pal on 1958's "Tom Thumb" and 1960's "The Time Machine." "He was the gentlest, nicest man outside of directing, and when he was directing he was the same way."
"George had a twinkle in his brain," added Tamblyn, who played the title role in "Tom Thumb" and had a role in Pal's 1962 production of "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm." "When he would shoot, he would come up with this smirk on his face and say, 'I think it would be cute if you would do . . . . He was very playful."
Eden worked with Pal on "Brothers Grimm," which was directed by Henry Levin, and 1964's "7 Faces of Dr. Lao," which Pal directed and featured Tony Randall in the lead role.
"He had a great sense of humor," recalled Eden, who added that Pal would often get flummoxed by Randall's antics, especially when the actor started chasing Eden around the set.
"I think he threatened me with something unspeakable," Eden said, laughing. "I believe we ran around the cameras and George was saying, 'Wait a minute! Stop.' But we couldn't stop, we were laughing so hard. Tony would always do some sort of escapade that would take George back a bit."
"Dr. Lao," which won an Oscar for makeup for William Tuttle, was Pal's last hurrah. The swinging '60s didn't really mesh with the filmmaker's fantasy universe. "He wanted me to do a TV series based on the '7 Faces of Dr. Lao,' " said Young. "I was flattered, but he couldn't get it off the ground."
Pal died of a heart attack in 1980 at age 72. That same year, the academy created the "George Pal Lecture on Fantasy in Film" series in his memory.
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susan.king@latimes.com
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'George Pal: Discovering the Fantastic'
Where: Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Price: $5
Contact: (310) 247-3600 or www.oscars.org
