All About Muppets

Kristin Charney is a puppeteer who has only assisted the Muppets on The Muppets (2011) which I must say is not enough for a Muppet puppeteer. She also performed on Frances (as the title character) and has puppeteered on Sid the Science Kid, The Happytime Murders, and Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time. I don't know why Kristin hasn't done any other Muppet projects when she had the chance. Charney seems to be great when it comes to performing, so she should have performed on Muppets Tonight, The Muppets (2015), or any other Muppet project filmed in California. Though she has done more Henson Company projects than Muppet ones as mentioned. Outside of Henson Company, she puppeteered on numerous shows like Imagination Movers, Greg the Bunny, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Lost on Earth, just to name a few. As for films, Kristin Charney performed in Team America: World Police, Men in Black II, Hollow Man, and Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure. If she could puppeteer on all t...

Dave Chapman is a British puppeteer and actor who has assisted the Muppets on Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Most Wanted, and an appearance on The X Factor. Why hasn't he ever performed any characters for the Muppets? Dave seemed to be an expert puppeteer, so he should have the chance to perform a character but it's just a thought. However, Chapman played Dougie Colon, Eddie Watts, and others on the Henson Company show, That Puppet Game Show. He also joined Brian Henson for his "Evolution of Puppetry" lectures in 2013 and also guested on Puppet Up. His latest Henson Company project was on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, puppeteering various characters and serving as the 1st assistant puppet captain. Outside of Henson and the Muppets, Dave Chapman has performed several puppet characters for British TV, such as BBC presenters Otis the Aardvark and Vinnie the Ferret. He also worked on Tiny and Mr. Duk (as Tiny), Nuzzle and Scratch (as Nuzzle), Space Pirates and do...

Tau Bennett is a puppeteer who has been a Muppet performer on Sesame Street until 2022. He started his puppet career as a protégé of Kevin Clash. Tau's first meeting with Clash came from an invitation by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who he met in Atlanta and reminded him of Kevin Clash. Bennett's very first puppetry for Sesame Street was in the 2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade where he puppeteered Baby Bear. He even got to work with the Muppets at the 2016 Vulture Festival, puppeteering one of the Frackles in a demonstration. He must have been pretty lucky as a child, because no child has ever got a chance to meet the Muppet performers without the puppet. In October 2016, Tau Bennett got taught by Matt Vogel, Martin P. Robinson, and Peter Linz in a puppeteer workshop before joining Sesame Street during its 48th season as an assistant. His first speaking role was an AM audience member in a Season 50 episode before given the role of Tamir in 2020. Outside of Sesame Street, he...

Eric Engelhardt was a puppeteer and puppet builder who worked in the Muppet Workshop during the mid/late-1990s. He mainly built puppets for various Muppet productions like Muppets Tonight (where he built the first Pepe the King Prawn), The Animal Show, Bear in the Big Blue House, and in the film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. How come Eric never built puppets for other Sesame Street projects besides that film nor puppeteer in any Muppet project? Engelhardt must have been way more interested in building puppets for the Henson Company. It's a pity he never got the chance to puppeteer with the Henson Company when he had the chance. He puppeteered outside, so he should have stayed with the Henson Company until 2007. Outside, Eric Engelhardt has built and performed many puppets for various other shows like The Book of Pooh, Crank Yankers, It's a Big Big World, and Sheira & Loli's Dittydoodle Works. He seems to be one of those puppeteers who can perform and build at t...

Roslyn Oades is an Australian puppeteer, voice actress, and artist who only Henson Company work can be seen on Bambaloo and Farscape. How come Roslyn hasn't done enough work with the Henson Company? And why hasn't she worked on a project with the Muppets? It's probably because there are not enough projects featuring the Muppets filmed in Australia. She has also puppeteered on a couple productions outside of Henson, such as Toybox, Babe II: Pig in the City, The Matrix, and various TV commercials. Oades has also lent her voice to animated shows such as Sea Princesses, Zigby, and the ever popular Tracy McBean (to name a couple). I read the Roslyn is experienced in corporate, audio book, and documentary narration and occasionally turned up on ABC Radio National in radio plays and poetry readings. She has also spent her life making original works for theatre. Some of her works for theatre have included Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday, I'm Your Man, Stories of Love ...

Sue Morrison is a Canadian performer and clown trainer who puppeteered on Brats of the Lost Nebula by The Jim Henson Company. She could have done other Henson Company shows or worked as an additional puppeteer for the Muppets whenever they were in Canada. If it says that Sue is a performer, then she should work with either Henson or the Muppets. Morrison has done even less puppetry outside of The Jim Henson Company. The only known show that she puppeteered on was The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon as all the female puppets. As a worldwide teacher of the arts of clown and bouffon, she is a renowned practitioner of Canadian clowning. That's a mask-based clown technique devised by the late Richard Pochinko (Sue Morrison was once an apprentice of Richard himself). I've read that she is now the current Artistic Director of the TTRC which stands for Toronto's Theatre Resource Centre. I also read that she is also an alumnus of the improvisational comedy troupe of Second City, pe...

Christine Papalexis is a puppeteer, puppet/costume/creature builder, artist, and director who assisted the Muppets on their show The Muppets (2015). How come she does not assist the Muppets on any other project involving them? Christine is an excellent puppeteer and puppet/costume builder so she could have either assisted the Muppets or worked in the Muppet Workshop. Papalexis is probably more well known for all of the puppets and costumes she has built outside of the Muppets. She has puppeteered on The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth (also puppet builder), Spongebob Squarepants, Beanie and Bren, and several other projects. For film, she performed and built puppets on Team America: World Police, The X-Files, Dude Where's My Car, and tons more. Christine Papalexis has spent the rest of her days building puppets, character costumes, marionettes, animatronics, all different types of puppets. I've read that she has also been at several creature effect and puppet companies such as Ch...

Frank Meschkuleit is a Canadian puppeteer, suit performer, and voice actor who worked on Fraggle Rock in its 5th Season. He operated some background Fraggles and later replaced Robert Mills as the suit performer for Junior Gorg. Frank has also puppeteered in the Canadian video Basil Hears a Noise and in the Sesame Street film, Follow That Bird. I've read that Meschkuleit started his Muppet career when he was a bike mechanic and was encouraged by his teacher to audition for the Muppets. Outside of Fraggle Rock, he puppeteered on several series like Iris the Happy Professor, The Noddy Shop, and The Mighty Jungle, to name a few. His film work includes many horror movies like Bride of Chucky, Kumar Go to White Castle, and Scary Movie 3. Frank Meschkuleit is perhaps best known for being the voice of Toopy, the only speaking character on Toopy and Binoo. He has even performed his very own one-man show called Left Hand Frank. as a variety of characters objects like Pinky (his pinky finge...

Iestyn Evans is a British puppeteer and puppet designer/builder who first started his Creature Shop work in the stage show Doctor Dolittle. Evans later went on to assist on other Creature and Muppet projects. For the Muppets, Iestyn assisted in Muppets Most Wanted, while his Henson work landed him as an additional performer for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He even been an additional puppeteer on The Furchester Hotel during its second season. I wish Iestyn Evans would perform his own character when he worked the Muppets. Outside of Muppets and Creature Shop, Iestyn has been partnered with Andy Heath and together they run Talk to the Hand Productions. They both designed, built, and performed the characters for The Mongrels. Evans also did some solo puppetry work which can be seen on Fimbles, Yonderland, and The Evermoor Chronicles (to name a few). As for his movie work, he has puppeteered on the Star Wars films The Force Awakens and Solo. He was pretty lucky to be able to work o...

Rob Tygner is a British puppeteer who worked in numerous Creature Shop and Muppet productions for over twenty years. For the Muppets, he puppeteered two ghosts for The Muppets Christmas Carol and assisted them in Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets Most Wanted. Rob's work in the Creature Shop includes The Storyteller, Labyrinth, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (just to name a few). He has even worked on a Sesame Street project in 2003. He served as a digital puppeteer and animation director for Sesame Street's 4-D Movie Magic, his only time on Sesame Street. Tygner began doing animation and digital puppeteering back in the late nineties. Rob was working heavily in the Creature Shop for where it all happened. Outside of the Creature Shop and Muppets, his only known puppetry work can be seen on Spitting Image and Little Shop of Horrors (as principal puppeteer). How come Rob never performed a lot of puppetry beyond his work in the Creature Shop? He must be more into the Creature ...

Melissa Whitmire is a puppeteer and the wife/manager of Steve Whitmire. She worked as an assistant and background puppeteer on several Muppet projects. Melissa assisted in Dreamchild, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Kermit's Swamp Years and The Dark Crystal (assisting Kathryn Mullen for Kira). I wonder why she hasn't assisted her husband with any of the characters he performed while working the Muppets. I've read that Whitmire made clothes for Rizzo the Rat in his earliest appearances until he gained a more prominent role. In the beginning of The Muppets Take Manhattan, she can be seen in the audience when Kermit thanks his students. Melissa Whitmire should have been given credit for making costumes for a rat. In fact, she should have worked in the costume department of the Muppet Workshop since she made clothes often. It would seem that the wife of the Muppet performer is more of a manager than a puppeteer because they don't puppeteer as often as their husband does. Whitm...

Debra Spinney is the wife/widow and manager of Caroll Spinney on Sesame Street. She is also the former staffer of the Children's Television Workshop (I don't know when she became a former). She has occasionally been a background and assistant puppeteer in various projects. Debra operated Big Bird's legs in a scene of an episode where Caroll was playing Oscar. She later puppeteered Oscar for a performance at the 1982 Daytime Emmy Awards, while Caroll did Big Bird. It seems that Debra is mostly familiar with performing Caroll Spinney's characters rather than other Muppets. However, she did assist in A Muppet Family Christmas, she puppeteered Simon Soundman during the "Carol Sing" part of the special. Spinney seemed to enjoy being her husband's manager, meaning that she's been with Caroll everywhere they went. I've read that Debra has also appeared on-screen with Jon Stone and Kermit Love in an episode of Sesamstrasse in 1981. She even made cameo a...

Beccy Henderson is a Northern Irish puppeteer and actress who puppeteers Deet, Naia, and a couple others on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. She's also voiced Bobb'N and one of the Maudra's instead of being their puppeteer. Why doesn't Beccy voice the characters she puppeteers? Henderson seems to have an incredible voice when it comes to performing. Plus, it's very rare that the Creature Shop has creatures voiced by their puppeteer. She has also been an assistant puppeteer on two Henson Company series, Pajanimals and That Puppet Game Show. Outside of Henson, Beccy Henderson only puppeteered on two projects, Wildwoods and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Everything else she's done was mostly on-screen acting such as recurring appearances on the sitcoms Derry Girls and Secret Life of Boys, to name a couple. I wonder why she never performs the Muppets nor on The Furchester Hotel when she had the chance to do so. Beccy is shown to be great on shows for kids and adults,...

Pier Paquette is a Canadian bilingual puppeteer and voice actor who has performed Louie on Sesame Street's Canadian co-production, Sesame Park and in Basil Hears a Noise. He also assisted the Muppets, when they performed two live shows on the Canadian comedy festival, Just for Laughs. Pier shows that he can impress both children and adults. Paquette is another one of those puppeteers who has performed with the Muppets for only two times. At least he had still performed in an international co-production of Sesame Street. Outside of Sesame Park and the Muppets, he has worked frequently for both French and English language projects. Pier Paquette puppeteered on Iris the Happy Professor, Under the Umbrella Tree, Wumpa's World, and Caillou, just to name a few. As a voice actor, his voice can be heard in the animated series The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Heavy Metal II, and more. He has also acted in many French-Canadian films and series such as I'm thinking of you. Other puppe...

Matt Ficner is a Canadian puppeteer, puppet designer/builder, filmmaker, and artist who worked with the Henson Company on Brats of the Lost Nebula and in a series of 2013 Kohberg commercials. How come he didn't perform on Sesame Park with some of the puppeteers he's worked with over the years such as Pier Paquette and Bob Stutt? Outside of the Henson Company, Matt has done numerous other shows as a puppeteer and puppet builder. Ficner puppeteered on The Noddy Shop (and co-created the puppets with Noreen Young), Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Caillou, and Wilbur, just to name a few. Why hasn't he performed or assisted the Muppets whenever they were in Canada? Another thing he has done outside of the Henson Company, was being the founder of Matt Ficner Productions, which makes puppets, props, costumes, and art illustrations. Matt Ficner has also been apprentice of Noreen Young until he branched out on his own. He even made and performed his own TV movie called The C...

Jeff Conover is a puppeteer, suit performer and puppet designer who is known for being the master puppeteer for Disney Entertainment at the Disney theme parks. He puppeteered for Henson/Sesame Workshop's Big Bag, mostly right-handing Chelli and in the second season, he took over the role of Lyle from Joey Mazzarino. Jeff was also one of the four puppeteers to do a Muppet named Bad Andy for Domino's Pizza commercials. Despite The Jim Henson Company designing the puppet, he was actually built by the company Conover worked at, Animax Designs. He also puppeteered on projects like Sing Me a Story With Belle, Trollies, and Super Duper Supermarket Day, to name a few. I wish that he would perform with the Muppets though. Jeff Conover could have been an assistant for The Muppets at Walt Disney World, Animal Jam, and Kermit's Swamp Years as all of those projects were filmed in Florida. It states that he was in charge of casting and coordinating the puppetry for many live stage shows...

Aymee Garcia is a puppeteer and actress who performs various characters on Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, most notably Marjory the Trash Heap, Ma Gorg (face & voice) and Henchy Fraggle. She has also joined Sesame Street in its 53rd season, taking over the roles of Rosa and Rosita's Abuela, as well as playing newcomer Marisol for a 2022 video. Aymee is also a theatre actress as she has acted in a Shrek the Musical, Into the Woods, and Les Miserables, to name a few. Garcia has also done a couple Henson shows, Splash and Bubbles and Slumberkins. As for her other puppetry credits, she has puppeteered on Jellybean Jungle, It's a Big Big World, and LazyTown (replacing Sarah Burgess in later seasons). She has also acted on-screen for a film called Striptease and on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Aymee Garcia is not only good with children but with adults too. That is the one thing a Muppet performer does, perform for people of all ages. She was paired with ...

Sue Dacre is a British puppeteer and puppet maker who is adept at numerous forms of puppetry, such as animatronics, shadow, marionettes, and more. She occasionally worked with the Jim Henson Company many times, mostly in the Creature Shop. Sue also assisted the Muppets on The Muppets Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppets Most Wanted. As for the Creature Shop, Dacre has worked on two specials of The Jim Henson Hour, puppeteered Blawp in the Lost in Space film, and helped with the making and performance of creatures for Labyrinth, just to name a few. It seems that she is more affiliated with the Creature Shop than she is with the Muppets. Her other TV work has included Dizzy Heights, Spitting Image, Wizadora, and The Spooks of Bottle Bay (replacing Louise Gold), to name a few. As for the film industry, Sue Dacre assisted Brian Henson in Return to Oz and was one of the main puppeteers on Audrey II in the film version of Little Shop of Horrors. She really does do all kinds ...

Heather Tobias is a British puppeteer, actress, and artist whose only work with the Muppets was being an additional performer on Muppet Treasure Island. She should have also worked with the Muppets on The Muppets Christmas Carol as both movies were shot in the same studio. Heather doesn't seem to do a lot of puppetry with both Henson and the Muppets. I wish Tobias would have kept performing with Henson and the Muppets because they do a lot of productions that are filmed in England. She does even less puppetry outside of the Muppets as she only did The Spooks of Bottle Bay, Pipkins, and Monty & Co. As for the rest of her television work, she was mostly an on-screen actress. Heather Tobias acted on British series like The Bill, Alas Smith & Jones, Holby City, Doctors, and many more shows. Why is it that a puppeteer would rather act on-screen than work with puppets? She probably doesn't like keeping her arm in the air for so long. I've read that Heather is also a mixe...

David Stephens is a puppeteer and musician who performed on Sesame Street starting with its 39th season. He also performed in two Sesame Street videos and a television special (puppeteering an AM version of Jerry Nelson to his voice). However, David mostly performed minor characters on Sesame Street such as a Muppet named after him and a cow. He did not have much popularity for that show, but he did have a more bigger role for a theater production. Stephens worked on a Goodspeed's live stage production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, his bigger Muppet role. He started out as the performer of Yancy Woodchuck, did other rabbits/squirrels, and understudied Alan Campbell. David later got promoted to puppet captain and performs Yancy, Fred Lizard, and Pa Otter. It seems working on a stage show has made him officially a Muppet performer (more or less). Why didn't Stephens do any work with the Muppets? If he worked on Sesame Street and the stage show version of a Henson TV s...

Brad Brewer is a puppeteer who is involved in all aspects of puppet theater from design, construction and painting to puppeteering. His most notable work with the Muppets was performing in two Play-Along Videos, Neat Stuff To Know & Do (as Rodney) and Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear. I've read that Brad also performed on The Muppets Take Manhattan and Sesame Street. I'm not sure if it's true, so I would like to see some proof. Brewer developed an interest in puppetry when he was only six. At first, he was self-taught as a child before being trained under Jim Henson himself. How come Brad hasn't performed with the Muppets in a lot of productions? If Brewer has a puppetry interest, he should keep doing projects involving the Muppets. Outside of the Muppets, Brad Brewer has done a couple of shows and films. He appeared on-screen on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood & in Coca-Cola commercials for television. As for his film work, he puppeteered ...

Andy Heath is a British puppeteer, designer and puppet builder who has performed on various Henson, Muppet, and Sesame Street projects that were filmed in the UK. For Muppets, he performed a penguin on their appearance on The X Factor before puppeteering various roles for Muppets Most Wanted. That same year Andy also had a hand in waggling chickens in a Robbie Williams special. Heath also did co-productions of Sesame Street, such as performing Kit on Play With Me Sesame UK. He later worked on The Furchester Hotel as Cookie Monster cover, various guests, and puppet captain during Season 2. He seemed to have received a big promotion when working on The Furchester Hotel, from staff puppeteer to puppet captain. Andy Heath also performed on various Henson Company projects such as Mopatop's Shop, The Hoobs, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Outside of all of those productions, he has worked with his partner Iestyn Evans running Talk to the Hand Puppets. They both designed, built,...

Wende Welch is a Canadian puppeteer who has been a guest puppeteer on Sesame Park. But that was the only show involving Sesame Street in which she performed on. She should have also worked with Henson and/or the Muppets whenever they were in Canada. Wende could have done The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, Fraggle Rock, or Sesame Street's Follow That Bird. Welch should have met up with the main performers when she had the chance, but she was probably happier outside. I'd say that anyone who works on a Canadian co-production of Sesame Street, deserves an opportunity to do more with Henson and the Muppets. She's more familiar with doing puppetry outside of Sesame Park (and its Snippets). Wende Welch has puppeteered on numerous shows like Groundling Marsh (replacing Jani Lauzon), The Mighty Jungle, St. Bears Doll Hospital, and more. She seems to have had a mixture of years in which she has been a puppeteer. It would appear that she has had more puppetry experience outside...

Nina Keogh is a Canadian puppeteer, puppet builder, and voice actress who served as an additional puppeteer for Sesame Park and in Sesame Park Snippets. But why hasn't she assisted or performed with the Muppets whenever they filmed in Canada. Nina could have also worked on Fraggle Rock because it was also filmed in Toronto, Ontario, where she lives. Keogh is more of an international Sesame Street performer because Sesame Park is a Canadian co-production of Sesame Street. She has been more popular with shows outside of Henson and Sesame Park. Her best known show was Today's Special where she did Muffy and made puppets too. Other kid shows Nina Keogh did included Groundling Marsh, Ruffus the Dog, Panda Bear Daycare, and Mr. Dressup. For her film work, she has only worked on The Santa Clause with her friends Bob Dermer and John Pattison. I have read that she also built many puppets throughout her puppetry career like on Bookmice (puppeteered too). I just wish that Nina would have...

Sarah Burgess is a British puppeteer and voice actress who performed Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz on the British co-production of Sesame Street, The Furchester Hotel. She also operated Polynesia the parrot in a tour of the Jim Henson Company co-produced play, Dr. Dolittle (replacing Wim Booth). Sarah even went on a tour with Bear in the Big Blue House Live, back in 2003. It appears that Burgess is mostly doing live shows when it came to performing with the Jim Henson Company. Her latest work with the Henson Company was being an additional puppeteer for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Outside of The Furchester Hotel and Henson, she has performed on numerous kid shows such as Space Pirates, Wizadora, Teletubbies, Rosie and Jim, and most famously, LazyTown. On LazyTown, Sarah Burgess performed Trixie for two seasons before Aymee Garcia took over, as well as voicing Stingy in the UK version and puppeteering Ziggy for LazyTown Extra. She seems to be one of the healthiest puppeteers to perfo...

Fred Stinson as a Canadian actor, puppeteer, suit performer, and puppet builder who did characters on the Canadian co-production of Sesame Street, Sesame Park. He has also worked with the Muppets for three projects, A Muppet Family Christmas, The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, and on Just For Laughs. Fred seems to be incredibly talented wearing a costume and holding a puppet. Stinson has also puppeteered on the Creature Shop series, Brats of the Lost Nebula. I wonder why he didn't work with the Muppets as often as his friends Robert Mills or Gordon Robertson did. He would have been great as a Muppet performer himself then a puppeteer. Outside of the Muppets and Sesame Park, Fred Stinson has worked on several different projects involving puppets, costumes, and make-up effects. Shows like The Big Comfy Couch, Groundling Marsh, Ruffus the Dog, and many other different productions over the years. I wonder if he liked it better when he's performing a puppet or being inside a c...

Michael Bayliss is a British puppeteer who worked on a number of Jim Henson Company projects for many years. His puppeteering can be seen on Labyrinth, The Storyteller, and The Hoobs where he did the puppetry/assisting of his characters. Michael has also performed with the Muppets for a couple of times, mainly The Jim Henson Hour, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and Muppet Treasure Island. He is one of those puppeteers that receives credit for a Muppet performer but hasn't voiced the character he puppeteered when working. Bayliss has also done several productions outside of The Jim Henson Company. For television, he puppeteered on Spitting Image, Wizadora, and The Roly Mo Show (just to name a couple of them). For film, Michael has worked on Little Shop of Horrors and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, manipulating props held by animated characters. I've read that he not only has worked on film and television, but he also has an extensive background in theatre. Michael Bayliss toured for ...

David Collins is an Australian puppeteer, writer, and director who has performed in several different projects by the Creature Shop. For television, he worked on Farscape (and its miniseries), Bambaloo, and Me and My Monsters (as an assistant puppeteer). David also assisted on one Creature Shop film called Babe, where it's a mixture of live animals and animatronics. Why is it that Collins only worked on productions made by the Creature Shop and not featuring the Muppets? The Muppets should do a TV special or a film that will be taped in Australia, that way he could work with the Muppets for one project. I doubt it will happen, but you never know. Outside of the Creature Shop, David Collins has puppeteered on other TV series, such as The Ferals (as Rattus), Lift Off, and Bananas in Pyjamas, to name a few. I read that in the 1980's, he was a part the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre group, which he not only served as a puppeteer but sometimes wrote and directed. I wonder if his name c...