Steve Whitmire

Steve Whitmire is a puppeteer who performed with the Muppets starting in 1978. At first he assisted the Muppets on The Muppet Show before getting his own characters, including Rizzo the Rat. Steve soon received his major characters on Fraggle Rock, playing Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket, as well as others. After Jim Henson's death in 1990, Whitmire inherited Kermit the Frog and Ernie (though not until 1993). He also took over the roles of Beaker and Statler after Richard Hunt died and Jerry Nelson left them in 2003. He also occasionally performed minor characters on Sesame Street as seen in home videos and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. Steve Whitmire amazed me by the number of TV specials and films he did his characters on such as The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, and Muppets from Space. His other Henson Company work was on Dinosaurs, The Animal Show, and Labyrinth. In 2014, he stopped performing on Sesame Street and Ernie was taken over by Billy Barkhurst till 2017. In 2016, Steve got fired as a Muppet performer from disagreements with his characters. With Whitmire gone, Matt Vogel took over the role of Kermit while David Rudman and Peter Linz took on some of his other characters except Rizzo the Rat. I've read that after his departure, he launched a puppet project called Cave In, with his wife Melissa Whitmire. It is sad to have a legend get fired from show business after years of work. Steve Whitmire, you were excellent at performing Kermit the Frog and Rizzo the Rat for many decades and for working with the Muppets. I just wish that Rizzo was inherited by your partners. Until then, keep on working on your project Cave In and remember how much fun you had working with the Muppets, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock Steve. Spectacular work Whitmire!