Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on "Sesame Street" from its inception in 1969 until 2018.
Introduction
Caroll Spinney
Caroll Spinney | Introduction
He was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker. American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker An American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker. He was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker.
when did the first episode of sesame street air
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10 November 1969.
assistant
is it a series?
user
Yes, an educational children's television series.
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is the series still running?
user
Yes, it is on its second run.
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when was the pilot episode done?
user
July 1969.
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is it a puppet show?
user
Yes.
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name a few characters from the series?
user
Human characters included Susan and muppet characters included Elmo.
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can you name more muppet characters?
user
Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.
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how do the latter look like?
user
He has a green body with no visible nose.
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does the muppet perform any oscar related play?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
who performed the aforementioned bird muppet?
user
It was performed by Caroll Spinney till his retirement.
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who is he by profession?
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Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on "Sesame Street" from its inception in 1969 until 2018.
Caroll Spinney | Introduction
He continued puppeteering throughout his childhood and adolescence and used his performances to raise money for college tuition. After he graduated from Acton High School (subsequently Acton-Boxborough Regional High School) in Acton, Massachusetts, Spinney served in the US Air Force.
Caroll Spinney | Early life
This time, they did have the conversation, and Spinney joined the Muppeteers full-time by late 1969. Spinney joined "Sesame Street" for the inaugural season in 1969. However, he nearly left after the first season because he was not getting acceptable pay, but Kermit Love persuaded him to stay. He has performed the Big Bird and Oscar characters in Australia, China, Japan, and across Europe. As Big Bird and Oscar, Spinney conducted orchestras across the US and Canada, including the Boston Pops, and visited the White House multiple times. He provided the characters' voices on dozens of albums.
Caroll Spinney | As a "Sesame Street" puppeteer
In 1955, Spinney relocated to Las Vegas, where he performed in the show "Rascal Rabbit". He returned to Boston, joining "The Judy and Goggle Show" in 1958 as a puppeteer "Goggle" to Judy Valentine's Judy. Throughout the 1960s, he performed on the Boston broadcast of "Bozo's Big Top", where he played various costumed characters which included Flip Flop the Rag Doll, Mr. Rabbit, Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo as well as Mr. Lion, who created cartoon drawings from the names of children participating in the show. Through that decade, he was also a commercial artist and animator. Spinney created a puppet duo consisting of two cats named Picklepuss and Pop, which he utilized throughout the 1960s.
Caroll Spinney | Early puppeteering
Many years later, Spinney's Picklepuss and Pop puppets were characters in "Wow, You're a Cartoonist!"
Caroll Spinney | Early puppeteering
Spinney first met Jim Henson in 1962 at a puppeteering festival, where Henson asked if he would like to "talk about the Muppets". As Spinney failed to realize the question was an employment offer, the conversation never came to pass. In 1969, Spinney performed at a Puppeteers of America festival in Utah. His show was a mixture of live actors and puppets but was ruined by an errant spotlight that washed out the animated backgrounds. Henson was once again in attendance and noticed Spinney's performance. "I liked what you were trying to do," Henson said, and he asked once more if they could "talk about the Muppets".
Caroll Spinney | As a "Sesame Street" puppeteer
Caroll Edwin Spinney was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1933, to Chester and Margaret Spinney. His mother, a native of Bolton, England, named him Caroll because he was born the day after Christmas. He drew and painted from childhood, and developed a love of puppeteering when he saw a performance of "Three Little Kittens" at the age of five. This motivated him to purchase a monkey puppet from a rummage sale three years later and put on a puppet show utilizing the monkey and a plush snake. The following Christmas, his mother gave him a Punch and Judy puppet theater.
Caroll Spinney | Early life
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is a 2014 American documentary film about Caroll Spinney, the original performer of "Sesame Street" characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. The film has received generally favorable reviews. It has been shown at many film festivals, including the April 2014 Hot Docs Festival.
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story | Introduction
Spinney had three children from his first marriage to Janice Spinney, whom he married in 1960. Spinney and Janice divorced in 1971 after eleven and a half years of marriage. Spinney was married to his second wife, Debra Jean Gilroy, from 1979 until his death. In 2015, Spinney he was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that causes muscle contractions. On November 8, 2019, Spinney and Big Bird (played by Matt Vogel) participated in a lighting ceremony, where, by mayoral proclamation, the day was named "Caroll Spinney Day" in New York City.
Caroll Spinney | Personal life
So they asked if I'd mind giving it up." He also performed many characters on "The Muppet Show", including Sgt. Floyd Pepper (the bassist of the Electric Mayhem band), "Pigs in Space" star Dr. Julius Strangepork, the boomerang fish-throwing Lew Zealand, Kermit the Frog's nephew Robin the Frog, Gonzo's girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, the mad pyrotechnist Crazy Harry, and the Phantom of the Muppet Show, Uncle Deadly. He performed Statler in the pilot episode but was replaced by Richard Hunt when he could not perform full-time in the first season. He was a full-time performer for the rest of the show's run.
Jerry Nelson | Career
Harms became an illustrator and puppet designer, learning her craft working with Bil Baird and then working as a designer and fabricator for Jim Henson on the pilot for The Muppets and numerous of his television specials and movies.
Marianne Appel | Introduction
Big Bird was originally performed by Caroll Spinney starting in 1969. In the later years of Spinney's career, the show gradually started training new performers to play Big Bird. The apprentices included both Rick Lyon in the opening theme song of the show's 33rd season, and later Matt Vogel in the show's "Journey to Ernie" segment. Vogel became Big Bird's primary performer after Spinney's retirement. Spinney was sick during the taping of a few first-season episodes, so Daniel Seagren performed Big Bird in those episodes. He also performed Big Bird when he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1969 and on "Hollywood Squares" in the 1970s.
Big Bird | Performing Big Bird
Jerome Ravn Juhl (July 27, 1938 – September 26, 2005) was an American television and film writer, best known for his work with The Muppets.
Jerry Juhl | Introduction
The show featured Kermit as host and a variety of other characters, notably Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, and Fozzie Bear, along with other characters such as Animal. Henson's teammates sometimes compared his role to that of Kermit: a shy, gentle boss with "a whim of steel" who ran things like "an explosion in a mattress factory." Caroll Spinney was the puppet performer of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, and he remembered that Henson would never say he didn't like something. "He would just go 'Hmm.'… And if he liked it, he would say, 'Lovely!'" Henson recognized Kermit as an alter ego, though he thought that Kermit was bolder than he; he once said of the character, "He can say things I hold back."
Jim Henson | Expansion of audience: 1970–1978
Some of Spinney's artwork includes the 1996 painting called "Luna Bird", showing Big Bird walking on the moon, and the 1997 painting "Autumn", showing him playing in autumn leaves. Spinney also drew the drawing of Mr. Hooper that sits near Big Bird's nest.
Caroll Spinney | Artwork
In Season 46, Big Bird's large nest is now sitting within a small, furnished maple tree, and is no longer hidden by used construction doors. Big Bird was originally performed by Caroll Spinney from 1969 to 2018. As of 2020, the character is performed by Matt Vogel who began in 1998 as an understudy before becoming his full-time performer in 2018. In 2000, Big Bird was named a Living Legend by the United States Library of Congress.
Big Bird | Introduction
Additional Board of Birds Members are performed by: Bob Stutt, Nikki Tilroe, Lee Armstrong, Rob Mills, and John Pattison. Additional characters are performed by: Frank Meschkuleit, Terry Angus, Matthew Pidgeon, Stephen Brathwaite, Tom Vandenberg, Francine Anderson, Ron Wagner, Martine Carrier, Karen Valleau, Michelle Frey, Gus Harsfai, Patricia Lewis, Charlotte Levinson, Carolanne McLean, Peter McCowatt, Brian Moffatt, Myra Fried, Jani Lauzon, Sandra Shamas, and Kevin Clash.
Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird | Muppet performers
Following Jim Henson's sudden death in 1990, and with Frank Oz continuing to focus heavily on directing, Gonzo the character and Goelz the performer gained increased significance, starting with the first new feature, "The Muppet Christmas Carol". By performing Gonzo as Charles Dickens as narrator, Goelz (accompanied by Steve Whitmire as Rizzo the Rat, a pairing which would be repeated in subsequent productions) largely dominated the Muppet side of the film, and received top billing as "Muppet Performer" (a distinction which would continue through "Muppet Treasure Island" and "Muppets from Space") "...when we did "The Muppet Christmas Carol", he [Gonzo] developed a soulful side.
Dave Goelz | Other roles
Spinney remarked that "Vogel" is the German translation for "bird". He also took over the puppetry of the "Sesame Street" character Count von Count, and also the voice after Jerry Nelson died in 2012.
Matt Vogel (puppeteer) | Career
In his memoir, Caroll Spinney (the puppeteer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch) notes that he was inspired to pitch the special to CTW after visiting China on a tour with Bob Hope. This first trip was to film the "Bob Hope on the Road to China", a two-hour NBC special airing September 16, 1979. The special featured Big Bird, along with the likes of Shields and Yarnell and Mikhail Baryshnikov, with musical numbers by Peaches & Herb and Crystal Gayle. It was produced by James Lipton. Spinney devised the storyline and suggested locations for "Big Bird in China".
Big Bird in China | Origins
Michael Kingsbury Frith (born 8 July 1941) is a British artist and television producer. He is the former Executive Vice-President and Creative Director of The Jim Henson Company. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and varied.
Michael K. Frith | Introduction
From "The Muppet Show" onward, Kevin Clash; Kathryn Mullen; Louise Gold; Karen Prell; Fran Brill, Caroll Spinney; and Brian Henson performed several minor characters and assisted the main performers with puppeteering. Many of these puppeteers performed characters across "The Muppet Show," "Sesame Street", "Fraggle Rock", and other Henson-related projects. Henson, Hunt, and Nelson continued performing until their deaths in 1990, 1992, and 2012, respectively. Goelz, Whitmire, and Bill Barretta, who joined the main cast of performers in the mid-1990s, assumed Henson's characters, with Whitmire cast in the role of Beaker and Nelson cast in the role of Statler, both previously performed by Hunt.
The Muppets | Performers
On December 8, 2019, Spinney died at his home in Woodstock, Connecticut, at the age of 85, a few weeks before his 86th birthday. He was survived by his wife Debra and three children.
Caroll Spinney | Death
Roberds began reading by the age of three. He performed the role of Big Bird in the school play "Christmas on Sesame Street" at age five. He entertained his neighbours by reading them jokes at parties and quickly grew to enjoy the attention. Throughout his school career, he was active in theater productions and began acting professionally in 1987 when he did his first television commercial for GM.
Michael Roberds | Early life
Julius Strangepork, Pops, ‘80s Robot and Constantine under his tutelage. On "Sesame Street", Vogel is the performer of Big Bird, Count von Count and Mr. Johnson as well as Biff, Herb the Dinosaur, Hansel, Forgetful Jones, Sherlock Hemlock and one of the Yip-Yip Martians. He also performs Alex, a muppet who father is in jail, for Sesame Street in Communities initiative on incarceration. On "Oobi", he performed Angus. Beginning his puppeteering career at the Jim Henson Company in the 1990s, Vogel later served as the assistant puppeteer for Ernie on "Sesame Street", performing with Steve Whitmire. After studying the role of Big Bird under the performance of Caroll Spinney since 1997, he inherited the role in 2015, explaining "It takes a lot of physical exertion" and "I'm wearing the body of the bird".
Matt Vogel (puppeteer) | Career
Bob Carolgees (born Robert Frederick Johnson; 12 May 1948) is a comedy entertainer who appeared on the Saturday morning TV series "Tiswas" and then later in its adult versions "O.T.T." and "Saturday Stayback". He is best known for appearing with a canine puppet named Spit the Dog. Carolgees also worked for eight years on the TV show "Surprise Surprise" and on children's game show "Concentration". In popular culture he has cameo roles with Spit the Dog.
Bob Carolgees | Introduction
Hooper's absence as soon as possible, for maximum exposure, and to ensure that parents were at home with their children in order to discuss it. The illustrations used for the episode were drawn by Caroll Spinney, who performed Big Bird. Mr. Hooper's picture remained on the set from then on, as a continuing memorial to Lee and Mr. Hooper. Spinney, speaking of the scene in which the pictures were passed out, reported, "When we finished that scene there wasn't one of us whose face wasn't streaked with tears", even Spinney underneath his costume. Jon Stone, who directed the episode, wanted to do another take, although Spinney later said, "There was nothing wrong with that take.
Mr. Hooper | Development and legacy
During the first season of Sesame Street, the street set was arranged in such a way that Spinney, who was right-handed, was forced to operate Oscar's head with his left hand. After the set was redesigned, Spinney was able to switch hands. In scenes where Big Bird and Oscar (both performed by Caroll Spinney) interact in a scene together, the situation has varied depending on the number of lines one or the other is given. When Spinney performed Big Bird, a second puppeteer operated Oscar to Spinney's voice or vocal track; however, occasionally, Matt Vogel instead operated the Big Bird puppet to a vocal track by Spinney, while he performed Oscar.
Oscar the Grouch | Performing Oscar
While in the Air Force, Spinney wrote and illustrated "Harvey", a comic strip about military life. He also animated a series of black-and-white cartoons called "Crazy Crayon".
Caroll Spinney | Comics and cartoons
He became known for his stunts as acts within "The Muppet Show" and beyond, with the famous quote "I shall now eat a rubber tire to the music of "The Flight of the Bumblebee"...music, maestro!" In 1992, he played the part of Charles Dickens in "The Muppet Christmas Carol", as director Brian Henson said Gonzo was the most improbable Muppet to do so. Here, he developed a double act with Rizzo the Rat, narrating and breaking the fourth wall, with Rizzo challenging Gonzo's claims to be Dickens. The Gonzo and Rizzo partnership was continued in "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996) and "Muppets from Space" (1999).
Gonzo (Muppet) | History
Mike Quinn was born in Kent, England, and grew up in Enfield, Middlesex. He began puppeteering at age eight. In 1977, Mike regularly visited the set of "The Muppet Show" with his homemade puppets, eventually meeting Jim Henson. Through his visits, he learned more about puppeteering and received encouragement from Jim Henson and his co-workers. After leaving school in 1980, Quinn joined The Jim Henson Company and worked on the 1981 film "The Great Muppet Caper" puppeteering in crowd scenes and acting as a double for various main Muppet characters. Quinn later designed and built the Podlings for "The Dark Crystal", where he also performed the Skeksis Slave Master SkekNa (who was voiced by David Buck).
Mike Quinn (puppeteer) | Early life and career
Beginning with "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992), Statler and Waldorf were performed by Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz, respectively. When Jerry Nelson left the Muppets, citing health reasons, Muppeteer Steve Whitmire took over as Statler. The two were occasionally performed by Drew Massey (Statler) and Victor Yerrid (Waldorf) in 2005 and 2006, most notably in the web series "". Kevin Clash filled in for Goelz as Waldorf in a few episodes of "Muppets Tonight".
Statler and Waldorf | History
Carolgees, in pyjamas and headband, was also the "Tiswas" character "Houdi Elbow", a comedy psychic and small-time magician. As well as gaining national fame with these and Spit the Dog (plus Cough the Cat), he was also part of The Four Bucketeers who made the UK Top 30 in 1980, even making a "Top of the Pops" appearance.
Bob Carolgees | Career
Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, singer, and musician, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on "Sesame Street", "The Muppet Show", "Fraggle Rock", and various Muppet movies and specials.
Jerry Nelson | Introduction
Lanoil has worked as a puppeteer in various films and television shows since 1986. He performed the Cat in the Hat and Fox in Socks in the first season of "The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss", he also worked as a puppeteer in "The Muppets", "Where the Wild Things Are", "Dr. Dolittle", "Jack Frost", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", and "Cats & Dogs". Outside of the Henson company, he was an on-set animation reference puppeteer and voice actor for the movies "Monkeybone" and "" (as Pepé Le Pew). For Disney, he is also a voice double for Timon from "The Lion King".
Bruce Lanoil | Career
His specialty was character comedy: he would impersonate numerous characters with elaborate backstories, many of which would find their way into his later films and television commercials.
Jim Varney | Early career
Following Jim Henson's death in May 1990, talent agent Bill Haber approached his son Brian with the idea of filming an adaptation. Haber told Henson that ""Christmas Carol" is the greatest story of all time, you should do that" and later informed Henson that he sold the idea to ABC as a television film. Longtime Muppets writer Jerry Juhl was hired to write the script and decided to insert Charles Dickens as the stand-in narrator in order to remain faithful to the original prose of the written material. Henson stated that Gonzo was chosen because he was the least likely choice to play Charles Dickens, while Rizzo the Rat was added to inject some humor and serve as a Greek chorus.
The Muppet Christmas Carol | Production
The song was sung by Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) at the two memorial services for Jim Henson in 1990.
Bein' Green | Memorial
John Henson (April 25, 1965 – February 14, 2014) was an American puppeteer best known for his association with The Muppets.
John Henson (puppeteer) | Introduction
He is most remembered for his Swine Lake sequence on The Muppet Show which featured Rudolf Nureyev dancing with a giant pig. During this series he worked with Minnelli and Prowse again as well as numerous others including Julie Andrews, Gene Kelly and Ethel Merman. One of his other well-remembered works is his version of Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" for Olympic champion skater John Curry. Other notable works include twelve years as choreographer for the Royal Variety Performance, musical theatre in Dublin (including "Finian's Rainbow" and "The Fantasticks") and the West End (including Houdini, "Thomas and The King", "Irene", The Travelling Music Show and the OEEC Gala at Drury Lane).
Norman Maen | Career
Additional Muppets performed by Pam Arciero, Heather Asch, Tyler Bunch, Carmen Osbahr, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Ryan Dillon, Artie Esposito, James Godwin, BJ Guyer, Andy Hayward, Patrick Holmes, John Kennedy, Tim Lagasse, Bruce Lanoil, Peter Linz, Michael Lisa, Noel MacNeal, Amanda Maddock, Ed May, Paul McGinnis, Tracie Mick, Marc Petrosino, Karen Prell, Mike Quinn, Andy Stone, Ian Sweetman, David Stephens, John Tartaglia, and Gabriel Velez.
Elmo's Christmas Countdown | Muppet performers
Ernest Carroll (born 26 May 1929) is a retired Australian entertainer, radio and television personality, comic writer, television producer, puppeteer and comic strip writer, most recognised for his role as the man behind (and inside) Ossie Ostrich on "Hey Hey It's Saturday", "Cartoon Corner" and "The Daryl and Ossie Show".
Ernie Carroll | Introduction
Schulz, Jay Ward, Dr. Seuss, Matt Groening, Seth MacFarlane and John Lasseter. Three puppeteers have stars: Edgar Bergen, Jim Henson and Shari Lewis, as does Fran Allison, who appeared with Burr Tillstrom's puppets on the TV show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie". Henson also has three stars dedicated to his creations: one for The Muppets as a whole, one for Kermit the Frog and one for Big Bird.
Hollywood Walk of Fame | Fictional characters and their creators
Charles eventually went to London to help on "The Muppet Show". Writing special material for Carol Burnett and Brooke Shields, among others and working with Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, Charles shared an office with Jim Henson, whom Charles considered "a genius". For thirty-two years, 1982 through 2014, Charles was the musical consultant of the Kennedy Center Honors and for 14 years performed the same function for the "Fourth of July" and "Memorial Day" concerts on PBS. Ray Charles won two Emmy Awards for special musical material, music and lyrics for two comedy specials: "The Funny Side of Marriage" and "The First Nine Months".
Ray Charles (musician, born 1918) | The Muppets and Kennedy Center
Hooper in November 1982. Lee felt ill that day and barely spoke to the cast. Spinney (who was wearing Big Bird's feet at the time) placed his arm around Lee's shoulder and said "I love you, Mr. Hooper." Lee replied, "And I love you, Caroll." Lee died a few days later.
Will Lee | Death of Mr. Hooper
Clyde and Matilda are his signature puppets. In 1983, Johnson was introduced to Clyde the Buzzard in his native state of Colorado, and performed his first "real" show with his grandfather. Nearly 10 years later, in 1991, Kevin was introduced to Matilda the Cockatoo. After adding Matilda to Clyde he performed as a trio.
Kevin Johnson (ventriloquist) | Clyde and Matilda
Matt Vogel currently performs most of Nelson's Muppet characters.
Jerry Nelson | Personal life
Eric Norman Jacobson is an American puppeteer. Jacobson is best known for performing the Muppet characters Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as "Sesame Street" characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney and Jim Henson. Since 1994, Jacobson has been a regular performer for "Sesame Street", where he has received Daytime Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Since 2001, Jacobson has appeared as part of the Muppets cast in several feature films and television series, including "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz", "The Muppets", "Muppets Most Wanted," and the ABC primetime television series, "The Muppets".
Eric Jacobson | Introduction
Juhl was the head writer on "The Muppet Show". He also wrote for the television shows "Fraggle Rock", and "The Jim Henson Hour". He was involved in some capacity with all of the "Muppet" films from "The Muppet Movie" in 1979 to "Muppets from Space" in 1999. According to Lisa Henson, "So much of the humour, irreverence, caring and heart began with Jerry. He was, in many ways, the real voice of the Muppets."
Jerry Juhl | Biography
On May 21, 1990, Big Bird appeared at Jim Henson's memorial service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, singing Kermit the Frog's signature song, "Bein' Green". Performer Spinney nearly broke down several times during the deeply touching performance, which was later described by "Life" as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event".
Big Bird | Henson memorial service (1990)
Kevin Carolan (born May 22, 1968; Bronx, NY) is an American actor and comedian. During his career, he has had roles on television, stage, and film.
Kevin Carolan | Introduction
Robin Weaver (born April 1970) is an English actress well known for playing the roles of Clara in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and recurring character Pamela Cooper in the E4 sitcom "The Inbetweeners" and its feature-length films, "The Inbetweeners Movie" and "The Inbetweeners 2". She has also appeared in several television adverts.
Robin Weaver | Introduction
The cast of performers over the course of the series consisted of Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Fran Brill, Eren Ozker, Louise Gold, Kathryn Mullen, Karen Prell, Brian Muehl, Bob Payne, and John Lovelady. Many of the performers also worked on "Sesame Street", whose characters made sporadic appearances on "The Muppet Show". Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns were two of the head writers. The music was performed by Jack Parnell and his orchestra.
The Muppet Show | Introduction
Kathryn Mullen is an American puppeteer, actress, and voice actress most closely associated with Jim Henson projects.
Kathryn Mullen | Introduction
Karen Prell, a veteran performer for the Muppets, led the animation team for Wheatley and the other personality cores.
Portal 2 | Character design
Nicholson was a trombonist in big bands of the 1930s and 1940s. After a tour of duty in World War II, and more work with dance bands in the Buffalo New York area, he was hired in October 1952 by NBC director E. Roger Muir, at the request of Bob Smith (who Nicholson had worked with in Buffalo), for "The Howdy Doody Show", formerly known as "Puppet Playhouse." Nicholson played various characters during the show's early years, among them J. Cornelius "Corny" Cobb. He assumed the role of Clarabell the Clown, after the show's original Clarabell, Bob Keeshan, was fired in late 1952 over a salary dispute.
Bobby Nicholson | Biography
He also recorded Scott Joplin rags and Gershwin, and collaborated with French jazz pianist Claude Bolling. The Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano (1975), written by Bolling especially for Rampal, went to the top of the US "Billboard" charts and remained there for ten years. This raised his profile with the American public even further and led, in January 1981, to a TV appearance on Jim Henson's "The Muppet Show", where he played "Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark" with Miss Piggy—and, suitably attired, "Ease on Down the Road" in a scene loosely based on the folktale of the Pied Piper.
Jean-Pierre Rampal | Celebrity
His costume consisted of a purple cloak with a yellow flower sticking out of his striped vest. He also marched as a "Munchkin Soldier", and as one of the candy-striped "Fiddlers" who escorted Dorothy down the yellow brick road towards the Emerald City.
Mickey Carroll | Early life and career
After her death, Carson kept the Art Fern character off the air for most of the next year. He eventually hired Danuta Wesley and later Teresa Ganzel to be his new Matinée Lady.
Carol Wayne | Career
Over the years, Goelz has suffered a number of injuries due to the way Muppet performers must hold up their arms for extended periods and contort into small spaces. These include four shoulder surgeries and a hip replacement. At 46, he married his wife Debra, who was formerly a Jim Henson Productions Chief Financial Officer, and subsequently had two children. They live on a forested 20-acre space in West Marin, California.
Dave Goelz | Personal life
In the mid-late 1970s, Big Bird made several appearances on "The Hollywood Squares". As with Mr. Hooper, Big Bird frequently mispronounced host Peter Marshall's name, calling him "Mr. Marshmallow" or "Mr. Masher". In another episode, when asked by Marshall what kind of bird he was, Big Bird replied "I'm a lark", which broke Marshall up. He appeared in a series 11 episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segment, in which he enters the "Draw the Neighborhood" contest. He made an appearance as a guest star on the third season of "The Muppet Show". A portrait of Big Bird also appeared in the pilot "".
Big Bird | 1970s and 1980s
Originally a minor figure in "The Muppet Show", he soon evolved into one of the franchise's primary characters. Gonzo has appeared in every Muppet film, including "The Muppet Christmas Carol", where he portrayed author Charles Dickens and developed a double act with Rizzo the Rat.
Gonzo (Muppet) | Introduction
He is also a country music entertainer and rodeo promoter.
Monty &quot;Hawkeye&quot; Henson | Introduction
Bruce Lanoil (born July 5, 1960) is an American actor and puppeteer, who works for The Jim Henson Company and for The Walt Disney Company, he frequently works with puppeteer David Alan Barclay.
Bruce Lanoil | Introduction
Reddin became the show's lead presenter and sang the theme song, after McTell returned to his recording career. She was joined by a puppet cat named Dexter, performed by John Eccleston. In this series, Jacqueline occasionally appeared as another character, movie star 'Gloria Glamorous'.
Tickle on the Tum | Introduction
He then became an all-round entertainer, working his way around the music halls.
Reg Varney | Early life
The puppeteers have included Jerry Nelson and Jim Martin. In 2015, due to being diagnosed with dystonia, Spinney no longer puppeteered Oscar full-time on the show. Eric Jacobson became Spinney's understudy for Oscar; sometimes lip-syncing to a prerecorded vocal track by Spinney, and other times doing the voice himself. Jacobson started voicing Oscar for new material in Season 48 after Spinney's semi-retirement. On October 17, 2018, Spinney announced his full retirement from the character beginning the very same week as he planned to finish his final recordings on the following day. His final performance as Oscar the Grouch (and Big Bird) aired the following year for the series' landmark 50th anniversary.
Oscar the Grouch | Performing Oscar
The two restored the puppets and performed with them as the Old Time Marionettes and the Tiller Clowes Puppets.
Gerald Morice | Introduction
Colin Tilney (born 31 October 1933) is a harpsichordist, fortepianist and teacher.
Colin Tilney | Introduction
Meehl was born in Canandaigua, New York and grew up mostly in Iowa City, Iowa. Meehl worked on the last six shows of "The Muppet Show". He then worked on "Sesame Street", performing Barkley, Grundgetta, Telly Monster, and an early version of Elmo, among other characters. His work with Henson also included roles in the films, "The Dark Crystal", "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "The Great Muppet Caper". In 1984, Meehl left the Muppets and began writing for children's television series including "Between the Lions", "", "Cyberchase", the "TUGS" segments for "Salty's Lighthouse", "Eureeka's Castle", "Eyewitness" for the BBC and DK Vision and "The Magic School Bus".
Brian Meehl | Biography
David Odell (born July 8, 1943) is an American screenwriter and film director. Odell was nominated in 1980 for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for "The Muppet Show" alongside Jim Henson, Don Hinkley, and Jerry Juhl. He won the award the following year with co-nominees Jerry Juhl and Chris Langham.
David Odell | Introduction
He also wrote, acted as set decorator and costume designer , and performed in "Buddy and Flappo brûle les planches" (1983). He produced 17 sketches for Télévision Suisse Romande in Switzerland. He was also set decorator and costume designer for Théatre Am Stram Gram, for the Grand Théatre of Geneva, and for the Théâtre de Carouge.
Gérald Poussin | Introduction
Additional Muppets performed by Brad Abrell, Pam Arciero, Julianne Buescher, Lisa Buckley, Kevin Carlson, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Alice Dinnean, Eric Jacobson, John Kennedy, Peter Linz, Rick Lyon, Noel MacNeal, Jim Martin, Drew Massey, Don Reardon, Joe Selph, John Tartaglia and Matt Vogel.
Elmopalooza | Sesame Street Muppet Performers
Additional Muppets performed by Tim Blaney, Cheryl Blaylock, Kevin Carlson, Terri Hardin, Drew Massey, James Murray, Joe Selph, and Michelan Sisti.
Muppet Classic Theater | Muppet performers
In July 2018, he was an additional Muppet performer for "The Muppets Take the O2" live show at the O2 Arena.
Paul McGinnis | Introduction
Bernie Clifton (born Bernard Quinn on 22 April, 1936) is a British comedian and entertainer, known best for his work with his orange ostrich puppet costume Oswald the Ostrich.
Bernie Clifton | Introduction
Paul McGinnis (born 1973) is an American puppeteer for "Sesame Street" and The Muppets. He has also performed in various non-Muppet television productions such as "Julie's Greenroom", "The Wiz Live!", "Crash & Bernstein", "Crank Yankers", "Warren the Ape", "Greg the Bunny", "It's a Big Big World", "The Book of Pooh", "Between the Lions" and "Dog with a Blog". McGinnis performed on stage in the 2004–2005 Broadway tour of "Little Shop of Horrors", as well as "Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular". McGinnis also creates his own works of puppetry on YouTube. In September 2017, McGinnis was an additional Muppet performer on "The Muppets Take the Bowl" live show at the Hollywood Bowl.
Paul McGinnis | Introduction
James Conroy-Ward (born 12 April 1947) is a music publisher and retired English actor and singer best known for performing the Gilbert and Sullivan principal comic roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
James Conroy-Ward | Introduction
King, Jimmy Buffett, Bart Simpson, and the Metropolitan Opera's José Carreras—not to mention the blond, curly-haired Muppet character from "Sesame Street" who is his namesake and the lead singer of the rock group "Chrissy and the Alphabeats."
Christopher Cerf (producer) | Musical compositions
Gerard Marenghi (January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018), known as Jerry Maren, was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, "The Wizard of Oz." He became the last surviving adult Munchkin following the death of Ruth Duccini on January 16, 2014, and was also the last surviving cast member with a specifically identifiable speaking or singing role.
Jerry Maren | Introduction
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Carolin von Petzholdt | Career
Henson is the co-creator, producer, and currently a performer in the adult-themed puppet-based variety show Puppet Up!, and played various characters from that variety show on the British program That Puppet Game Show. For 2001s "The Muppet Show Live", in addition to performing his own Muppet characters, Henson also performed one of his father's characters, The Muppet Newsman, for the first time. He reprised the role for the 2003 video game "Muppets Party Cruise".
Brian Henson | Other ventures
Carole Switala (September 23, 1946 – July 9, 2016) was an American puppeteer, singer and voice actor. She was best known as the puppeteer and voice of Ana Platypus and Prince Tuesday, inhabitants of the fictional Neighborhood of Make-Believe on the children's television series, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". Switala, a resident of the North Side region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died on July 9, 2016, at the age of 69.
Carole Switala | Introduction
Noel portrays the environmentally friendly character ZoZo a mascot for safer streets, green transportation, and useful public spaces. This Jim Henson designed and created walk around puppet is used by Livable Streets Education to talk about these issues with young children and families. While Bear is his most famous character, MacNeal has also performed Mrs. (Mommy) Snuffleupagus and various Snuffleupagus relatives on "Sesame Street", Magellan, a baby dragon, on the ACE Award-winning series "Eureeka's Castle" on Nick Jr, Leon MacNeal in "The Puzzle Place", Raphael in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" and Madame Chairbird in the Sesame Street film "Follow That Bird".
Noel MacNeal | Career
According to "The Story of Jim Henson" by Stephanie St. Pierre, the costume was built for Jim Henson to perform, but when Henson tried it on, Kermit Love, who had built the costume, did not think that Henson was walking like a bird is supposed to walk, and so Henson decided not to perform Big Bird. Frank Oz was offered the part, but since he disliked performing full-body characters, he turned down the job. Director Jon Stone, in the 1994 documentary "The World of Jim Henson", revealed that the Big Bird costume actually did not have any openings that would allow the actor to see; a small television was strapped to the actor's chest to allow him to navigate.
Big Bird | Performing Big Bird
Christine Glanville "(née" Nancy Christine Fletcher; 28 October 1924 – 1 March 1999) was an English puppeteer who spent much of her professional life contributing to television series produced by Gerry Anderson.
Christine Glanville | Introduction
Prell married fellow Muppeteer Mike Quinn. They lived for a decade in England before moving to California to work for Pixar. Since divorcing in 2004, Prell and Quinn have continued to work together on different projects, usually involving the Muppets.
Karen Prell | Personal life
Brian Giuseppe Meehl (also known as Brian Muehl; born August 24, 1952), is an American puppeteer and writer.
Brian Meehl | Introduction
Bill Barretta has remained Pepé's performer since his 1996 debut on "Muppets Tonight". However, Drew Massey performed Pepé in a test pilot for the web series "".
Pepe the King Prawn | Performers
He has appeared in most later Muppet projects, including "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Muppets Tonight". In "The Muppet Christmas Carol", he developed a double act with Gonzo, with director Brian Henson and the crew envisioning Rizzo as "pain-in-the-neck sidekick." The characters narrate, break the fourth wall, and Rizzo challenges Gonzo's claims to be Charles Dickens. The Gonzo and Rizzo partnership was continued in "Muppet Treasure Island", with Rizzo again offering a humorous critique of the handling of the story, and in "Muppets from Space". Along with Kermit and Gonzo, Rizzo gave an audio commentary for the "Muppets from Space" DVD.
Rizzo the Rat | History
Before he began his career on radio, Chappell was "a concert baritone, a song-and-dance man in musical comedy, a lecturer and a stock company actor."
Ernest Chappell | Early professional work
Big Bird was originally designed by a drawing from Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love in 1969. The design was based on a previous Henson creation, a seven-foot-tall dragon that the puppeteer created for a La Choy advertising campaign. The Big Bird performer is completely enclosed within the costume, and extends his right hand over his head to operate the head and neck of the puppet. The Muppeteer's left hand serves as the Bird's left wing, while the right wing is stuffed and hangs loosely from a fishing line that runs through a loop under the neck and attaches to the wrist of the left hand.
Big Bird | Costume and portrayal
His choral anthem, "Fifty Nifty United States", in which he set the names of the states to music in alphabetical order, is now a staple of school choirs.
Ray Charles (musician, born 1918) | The Muppets and Kennedy Center
He was also in heavy demand as a voice-over for television commercials. He narrated the children's television series "Bump" for the BBC which is all about a baby elephant (who always bumps into things) and his friend Birdie.
Simon Cadell | Career
Elmer Ellsworth "Bird" Carroll was a professional football player during the early years of the National Football League with the Canton Bulldogs. He attended Washington & Jefferson College. Caroll won NFL championships with the Canton Bulldogs in 1922 and 1923.
Bird Carroll | Introduction
After being hired to work on "Sesame Street", Hunt mostly performed background characters. One of his first major performances was as Taminella Grinderfall in "The Frog Prince", physically performing the character while Jerry Juhl portrayed the voice. Hunt performed Scooter and shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until the final quarter of the first season of "The Muppet Show". His characters on "Sesame Street" included Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, and Sully; Hunt also briefly performed Elmo before Kevin Clash was cast in that role. On "Fraggle Rock", Hunt's main role was the performing the facial expressions and voice of Junior Gorg; he also performed Gunge (one of the Trash Heap's barkers) as well as several one shot or minor characters.
Richard Hunt (puppeteer) | Career
Not surprisingly his Mary Poppins accent soon developed a lilting local burr. Making schoolfriends laugh was a classic defence mechanism and he even set up comedy gigs at his school. What started out as a hobby quickly became a career.
Sean Hughes (comedian) | Early life
The main protagonist of the series and the first Muppet to appear on the show was Big Bird, an 8-foot-tall yellow bird believed by writer Shalom M. Fisch and Dr. Lewis Bernstein to be a canary, who resides in a large nest alongside the "123 Sesame Street" building and represents the 6-year-old child with his tendency to question everything. On special days, he wears a white collar and colorful necktie. Big Bird's best friend is Aloysius Snuffleupagus (better known as "Snuffy"), who was portrayed as the bird's imaginary friend until revealed to the human cast in 1985.
Sesame Street characters | Big Bird
Eric Jacobson, a native of Fort Worth, was inspired to enter the field of puppeteering after the death of Jim Henson while he was attending film school. Jacobson initially began his career as a puppeteer on "Sesame Street" in 1994, where he worked alongside Frank Oz, often performing the roles of Grover and Bert when Oz wasn't available. After Oz retired from the roles, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer. He also took on Guy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson. Jacobson also began performing Oscar the Grouch after Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018. For his work on "Sesame Street", Jacobson has been nominated for both a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2019, respectively.
Eric Jacobson | Career
The theatrical press were sceptical of a music hall performer taking on such a distinguished role; Carroll, the play's producer, vehemently defended his casting choice. Carroll later admitted taking a gamble on employing Robey but wrote that the comedian "has unlimited courage in challenging criticism and risking his reputation on a venture of this kind; he takes both his past and his future in both hands and is faced with the alternative of dashing them into the depths or lifting them to a height hitherto undreamt of." Carroll further opined that "[Robey] has never failed in anything he has undertaken.
George Robey | Shakespearean roles