All About Muppets

Karen Valleau is a Canadian puppeteer, puppet designer/builder, illustrator, and set designer who has mostly performed with Muppet projects filmed in Canada. Her work can be seen on Fraggle Rock and on The Jim Henson Hour. For Sesame Street, Karen has assisted in the first Sesame Street film Follow That Bird and played Chaos on its Canadian co-production, Sesame Park. Valleau has also assisted the Muppets in many specials such as The Christmas Toy and A Muppet Family Christmas. During her time with them, she got to work with Jim Henson and Frank Oz, as well as many others. Outside of Muppets, she mainly worked at Radical Sheep Productions with Robert Mills. Karen Valleau designed, built, and performed puppets on The Big Comfy Couch, Ruffus the Dog, and other shows produced by Radical Sheep, as well as illustrated and designed sets. She also puppeteered on Mr. Dressup, Bookmice, and Longhouse Tales. I have read online that she is also married to Robert Mills, which explains why they ar...

Lee Armstrong is a Canadian puppeteer and producer who worked on Fraggle Rock for three years as a featured perform of some characters. She also worked on the 1st Sesame Street film Follow That Bird as one of the Board of Birds. I've read that after Fraggle Rock, Lee moved to San Francisco where she worked as a public access coordinator for Viacom. Armstrong soon became the founder and co-owner of Images In Motion, Inc., a company specialized in television and film puppetry. Her puppetry can be seen on Being John Malkovich, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (with Shari Lewis), Mustard Pancakes, and Jack Houston's Imagine Land (Season 2), just to name a few. Her company has been making and performing puppets for numerous videos, TV/stage shows, and commercials. Lee Armstrong must be full of pride because her company won herself 3 regional Emmys as both producer and puppeteer. She has also been teaching numerous courses in puppetry, even "Jim Henson and the Art of the Muppets...

Sandra Shamas is a Canadian comedian, puppeteer, and writer who was one of the numerous Canadian people brought on to do Fraggle Rock. On Fraggle Rock, she mostly performed background characters, but she sometimes performed guest characters in various episodes. Sandra also performed on The Jim Henson Hour as an additional puppeteer for many episodes and also did some garbage and a goldfinch for an episode. Shamas even got a chance to assist in the Sesame Street film, Follow That Bird. I have read that while she worked on Fraggle Rock, she met her future husband, puppeteer Frank Meschkuleit (but the couple soon divorced). She later established herself as a comedic person with a series of self-produced one-woman shows such as My Boyfriend's Back and There's Going to Be Laundry and Wit's End. Ever since then, Sandra Shamas has been performing comedy shows across the country. I read on Wikipedia that she was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2018, an official honor. I wonde...

Bruce Lanoil is a puppeteer and voice actor who is best known for his work on Muppets and Henson projects. His most notable Henson project was on The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, where he did The Cat in the Hat, Fox in Socks, and others during the first season. Bruce also performed with the Muppets for several years, performing in Muppets Tonight, Muppet Classic Theater, and The Muppets (2015), to name a few. Lanoil had his own characters for the Muppets, most notably, Lindy and Mo Frackle. He's also known for doing Creature Shop projects such as Dinosaurs, Dr. Dolittle, Cats & Dogs, and Jack Frost, to name a few. He was even an additional performer on The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, his only Sesame Street project. Bruce Lanoil seemed to be more interested in working with the regular Muppets rather than with Sesame Street. Outside of the Henson Company, he was used as an on-set animation reference puppeteer and voice actor for the films Monkeybone and Looney Tunes: Back...

Joey Mazzarino is a puppeteer, writer, director, and voice actor who is perhaps best known for his work on Sesame Street. He performed over a hundred characters on Sesame Street, but his few most notable characters were Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed, Papa Bear, and the Elephant. Mazzarino started out as a performer in 1989 before he became a writer in 1991. This eventually led to Joey becoming the head writer for six seasons. I don't know when he was promoted to directing the show, but I'm sure it was sometime during production of the 37th season. Joey Mazzarino has also worked with the Muppets several times, like in Muppet Meeting Films, Muppet Time, and Kermit's Swamp Years. He even got to work on other Henson shows such as Dog City, CityKids, Big Bag, and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. His writing credits can be seen on Bear in the Big Blue House and in two films, Muppets From Space and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. Outside of Sesame Street and...

Kevin Carlson is a puppeteer, writer, and songwriter who performed on various Muppet and Henson projects over the years. His work with the Muppets can be seen on Muppet Classic Theater, Muppets Tonight, and The Muppets (2015), to name a few. Kevin also worked on Sesame Street during its 22nd season and on the special Elmopalooza. Carlson must have been excited to work on that show during that year, as well as meeting some celebrities during those segments. His Henson work can be seen on Dinosaurs, Puppet Up, and Late Night Buffet. Not only did he work on Henson and Muppet projects, but he also puppeteered on several non-Muppet projects. Kevin Carlson's TV work includes Pee-Wee's Playhouse, The Mr. Potato Head Show, and Imagination Movers, to name a few. For video he wrote and performed on The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth and Toby Terrier and His Video Pals. I've read that on a Disneyland special that happened in 1990, he puppeteered Gonzo to a vocal track by Dave Goelz as...

Wim Booth (also known as Wim Oppenheimer) is a British puppeteer and voice actress who worked on Muppet and Creature Shop productions. Her most notable Henson projects was on The Hoobs (as Timp of The Motorettes) and Construction Site (alternating with Steven Kynman and Susan Beattie). As for the Creature Shop, Wim puppeteered Blawp on Lost in Space and Doctor Dolittle show. Booth's outside puppetry work can be seen on The Shiny Show, Yonderland, Spitting Image (revival), and in some Star Wars films. How come she did not perform with the Muppets when they were in England? She could have assisted the characters in some of the Muppet films like The Muppets Christmas Carol or Muppets Most Wanted. Wim Booth's latest Creature Shop project was on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, as one of the many additional puppeteers. Other puppeteers she worked with include Rebecca Nagan, Mark Jefferis, Sue Dacre, and David Barclay, to name a few. It's a pity Muppet Wiki doesn't have ...

Rebecca Nagan is a British actress and puppeteer who has done various Henson and Muppet projects over the years. Her most notable projects were The Hoobs (as Tootle, one of The Motorettes) and The Furchester Hotel (as various characters). Rebecca has also assisted on The Muppets Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Nagan is more well known for her outside projects. Outside of Henson, she is most well known for performing Rosie on Rosie & Jim, while other shows include Bug Alert, Becky and Barnaby Bear, and Spitting Image (revival), to name a few. She also appeared on-screen on Tots TV as a singer and performer of nursery rhymes within primary schools for segments of certain episodes. Rebecca Nagan performed alongside many other puppeteers such as Robin Stevens, Wim Booth, Mark Jefferis, and Warrick Brownlow-Pike, as well as others. Her only outside film work was on Star Wars-The Force Awakens as a creature and ...