Oskar Leenart Seliaru (born Oskar Leenart Schelbach; June 18, 1906 – June 14, 1978 New York) was an Estonian actor, director, and puppeteer.
Early life and education Oskar Seliaru was born in Rakvere, Estonia, the son of Jüri Schelbach (later Seliaru, 1875–1944) and Marie Schelbach (later Seliaru, née Vilu, 1875–?). He attended at Rakvere High School, and he participated in the Estonian War of Independence as a schoolboy. In his youth he was also engaged in journalism and was an athlete (shooting and equestrianism).
Career Seliaru started performing on the stage in 1926 in the Rakvere Actors' Circle, and he was an actor at the Drama Theater from 1936 to 1944, where he directed a puppet troupe and a was a puppet technician.
In 1944, he fled to Germany. He founded the puppet troupe Sel's Marionettes () there, and he performed from 1945 to 1950 with his own puppet plays, including See oli unenägu (It Was a Dream) and Seitse ühe hoobiga (Seven in One Blow). He relocated to New York in 1950 and directed and acted at the New York Estonian Theater.
Productions 1943: Pöialpoiss (The Dwarf) by Anna Brigadere 1944: Haldjas Kastetilk (The Fairy Dewdrop) by Lo Tui 1952: Mees merelt (The Man from the Sea) by August Mälk 1955: Püve talus (At the Püve Farm) by August Kitzberg 1960: Mikumärdi by Hugo Raudsepp 1963: Oskar Lutsu õhtu (An Evening of Oskar Luts)
Roles 1936: Tölpa in Nukitsamees (Bumpy) by Oskar Luts 1937: The Wolf in Pauka by Aadu Laabus 1938: in Erik XIV by August Strindberg 1940: Napoleon in (The God of War, Estonian title: ) by 1942: Baron Lövenborg in Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf 1952: Kapral in Tagahoovis (In the Back Yard) by Oskar Luts, adapted by Andres Särev 1952: Laas Räimes in Mees merelt (The Man from the Sea) by August Mälk 1960: Jüri Tomusk in Mikumärdi by Hugo Raudsepp
Family Seliaru became engaged to the Estonian actress, director, and costume designer Lo Tui in February 1937, and they were married in Tallinn on May 1, 1937. Oskar Seliaru erroneously sought to have Lo Tui declared legally dead in 1951 because he believed that she had been killed during the Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states in 1944.
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