All About Muppets

Wilhelm Helmrich was a German puppeteer who performed Finchen from 1986-1991 on the German co-production of Sesame Street, Sesamstrasse. On that show he got to work with other German puppeteers such as Marita Stolze, Kerstin Siebmann-Roders, Herbert Langemann, and many others. Outside Wilhelm was a principal puppeteer on the show Hallo Spencer from the beginning in 1979 to 1991 as Elvis and other recurring/minor characters. Helmrich played the devil figure Nero, villager Edigus Soltanelle, Kalle Akademix in a spin-off series, and numerous others. I wonder how he got selected to perform on Hallo Spencer and Sesamstrasse during his career. It's a shame he never did any other production after 1991 as that's the year he died. Despite being gone, Wilhelm Helmrich will never be forgotten by those who've worked with him and the German viewers who've seen his work on those shows. He also worked with a bunch of other puppeteers who worked on Sesamstrasse later in their careers. ...

Neal Scanlan is a British special effects artist and make-up artist who has worked on numerous Creature Shop productions from 1985-2005. He started out as one of the puppeteers on Dreamchild before being in the workshop for Labyrinth, The Storyteller, TMNT films, Dinosaurs, and Babe, the latter won him an Academy Award. Neal had the pleasure to work with Jim Henson and other legendary Muppet performers during his time with them, before and after Jim's death. Scanlan must have had a lot of training prior to making animatronic characters for films and television shows over the years. Outside, he is perhaps best-known for working on the Star Wars sequel trilogy and standalone films. He is also the founder and head designer/builder of his own company Neal Scanlan Studios, making costumes, puppets, and animatronics for film and television. Some of the other films Neal Scanlan did include Little Shop of Horrors, Babe: Pig in the City, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Jurassic World...

Rod Coneybeare was a Canadian puppeteer, voice actor, and writer who was best-known for performing both Jerome the Giraffe and Rusty the Rooster on The Friendly Giant. During the long run of the show, he got to meet two puppeteers who worked on Sesame Park, Bob Stutt and Nina Keogh. In addition, Rod also created a short-lived series called The Bananas and did a radio program called The Rod and Charles Show, with Charles Winter. Besides that, Coneybeare wrote numerous original radio dramas for CBC as well as original plays and the miniseries Royal Suite. It's a shame he never puppeteered on any other productions besides The Friendly Giant, though he was probably too busy on show doing his best characters. Other than puppetry and writing, he was a voice actor for several cartoons such as X-Men: The Animated Series, Babar, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and even Jim Henson's Dog City. But if Rod Coneybeare did work on Dog City, then there should be sources for that. At least he...

James Ortiz is a puppeteer, actor, puppet designer, and director who is known for his work in theater, film, and opera. He became very popular after developing and starring in The Woodsman, a dialogue-less play based on the classic The Wizard of Oz. James also designed puppets for the 2022 Broadway revival of The Skin of Our Teeth, which won him a Drama Desk Award. Ortiz's other puppet design/build credits include Into the Woods, Candide, The Scarlett Letter, and Hercules, to name a few. His most notable film was the one that came out recently called Project Hall Mary, performing the alien character Rocky. For that film, he got to work with designer Neal Scanlan, the latter who worked with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Other stage puppeteers that worked with James Ortiz include Emaley Rose, who was his student, while Creature Shop performers he met include Mike Quinn and Clare Roi Harvey. He is perhaps one of those very few puppet designers to ever work in the opera like at Opera...

Paula Lambert is an Irish puppeteer who is best known for performing Bosco on the series Bosco from 1981-1987 and other appearances. From childhood she performed with her family at the Lambert Puppet Theatre before doing her first show Wanderly Wagon as a mouse and a squirrel. Paula also did Spooky the Cat on the spin-off series Fortycoats & Co. where she was an antagonist. Lambert later took over the role of Bosco from her sister Miriam Lambert, performing the role on the series and touring the character around Ireland for 40 years. She is kind of like some of the Muppet performers for they toured across different parts of the world with their best-known puppet characters. It's true that sometimes puppetry runs in the family like with Jim and Brian Henson of the Henson Company. It's a shame that someone of such puppetry talent like Paula Lambert, never met any Muppet performers in her life. It's probably because there aren't any Muppet projects that were taped in I...

Mary McClung is a puppeteer, costume designer, and professor at West Virginia University who teaches both theatrical skills to students. She started off working at Animax Designs in 1994, doing projects for Disney, Sesame Workshop, and Universal Studios. Mary got to work with Chuck Fawcett, Jeff Conover, Kim Snodgrass, and other performers who worked at Animax during that time. McClung also designed costumes for The Beggar's Opera which won an award in 2002 and later designed costumes for the WVU dance concert piece known as The Elementals. It's amazing that a former puppet company employee would become a professor to teach these skills to students interested in that area. In 2015, she inherited leadership of the WVU Puppet Mobile from her retired mentor Joann Siegrist, bringing theatrical performances to West Virginia communities for over 30 years. Mary McClung also toured elementary schools across the state, performing shows which she saw as educational and professional train...