All About Muppets

Charlie Bazire is a French puppeteer and actress who performed Olive on 5, Rue Sesame, the French co-production of Sesame Street. She has also puppeteered on Muppets TV along with some of her co-workers from 5, Rue Sesame, including Yves Brunier and Evelyne Scheigam. I wonder why the people behind Muppets TV did not have Charlie and the others voice the Muppet characters as well as operate them. It's great that Bazire worked with both the Muppets and international Sesame Street. Outside of the two Muppet projects, she has performed in many non-Muppet shows like Info Pouet, Gorg & Lala, and in lots of commercials like Butagaz, Carrefour, and Joker. Charlie Bazire has also done on-camera roles for a 2003 French film called The Bathers and in sitcoms such as Nina. Seems to me that she can do so well performing on-screen or off-screen. Does she ever think about whether she likes acting more than puppetry, or the other way around? Charlie should give close thought onto this type of ...

Yousef Sweid is an Israeli Arab actor and puppeteer who performs Mahboub on the new version of the Israeli co-production of Sesame Street, Rechov Sumsum. He was trained under Gilles Ben-David for his puppetry debut who might have also taught him to speak in English. Yousef is considered a familiar face in Israeli film and television for years. Sweid got his big break in film when he did the leading role for a film called The Bubble. He also appeared on The Champion, Homeland, and Game of Thrones, to name a few. Yousef Sweid must be one of the biggest Israeli actors to ever hit the screen. But I wonder if he enjoyed doing puppetry on Rechov Sumsum, after all it's the only puppet-related thing he did. I've read that he spoke proudly of the integration of Arab characters into Sumsum, explaining how the kids were afraid of Arab at first before seeing the show. Yousef must be very proud to deliver such a speech and to show the world that he's not only worked with adults, but wit...

Eric-Jan Lens is a Dutch puppeteer who performed the chicken Stuntkip on the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street, Sesamstraat. How come Stuntkip was the only character he performed on Sesamstraat and not other characters within that same show? Eric-Jan, along with his fellow co-performer Jogchem Jalink, has auditioned for the role in 2007 and was trained by Bert Plagman. Lens should have played other characters as well as Stuntkip during his time on Sesamstraat or assist the main characters. His outside puppet work has included Koekeloere and Leesdas Lettervos Boekentas. Eric-Jan Lens has also understudied Zazu, Timon, and Ed for the Dutch run of The Lion King and was even seen on Broadway in a musical called Frog. He is another one of those puppeteers to perform on Broadway shows, some others include Genevieve Flati, Eric Wright, and Austin M. Costello. It's a shame he left Sesamstraat in 2013 because he was doing a great job performing a chicken within those six years. Eric-Jan ...

Galen Fott is a puppeteer, animator, singer, and writer who has worked on various Sesame Street video projects from 1994-2006. His first work was in the 25th anniversary special Stars and Street Forever, which soon led to Don't Forget to Watch the Movie and Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic. Galen has also done live U.S. appearances as Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House and even did international appearances as the Coca-Cola Polar Bear (Henson built). Fott has also puppeteered in several different projects outside of Sesame Street, 2 were The Puzzle Place home video series and Pinatta's View with Rick Lyon. His last known project on Sesame Street was animating the robot's "Holidays of the Future" segment in the fourth chapter of A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (Rickey Boyd wrote and directed that particular segment). Other performers he worked with include Mark Gale, Jason Murphy, and Andy Stone, just to name a few. Galen Fott also founded his own animation studio e...

Bob Dermer is a Canadian puppeteer, voice actor, and actor who assisted in the Canadian Sesame Street video, Basil Hears a Noise. Why hasn't he done any other Canadian projects featuring Muppets? Bob was probably too busy performing outside to do so. Dermer has done many productions outside of Basil Hears a Noise, but he's done more voice acting than puppeteering. As a puppeteer, he was best known for performing Sam on Today's Special, with his fiancée Nina Keogh (who did Muffy). He also worked on Mr. Dressup, The Santa Clause, and even a 1975 show called Readalong. I've read that Bob Dermer has never puppeteered before, until he met Noreen Young who taught him how to operate a puppet. In addition to puppetry, he also voice acted in both The Care Bears and The Raccoons (voicing numerous characters). I wonder if he liked voice acting more than puppeteering. I think Bob's last acting role was in a television movie called Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story as a ...

Tessa Crockett is a suit performer and manager who played one of the goblin corps in Labyrinth. Like Katie Purvis and Sadie Corre, that was the only Creature Shop project she did. Tessa probably seemed to be lucky to work under the direction of Jim Henson. Crockett should have also worked on the other Creature Shop film, The Dark Crystal, but I guess she wasn't tall enough to do a Skeksis. Her outside work has placed her in kid shows Gophers and Pigsty, and performing gorillas in Fierce Creatures, and The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. It would seem that Tessa Crockett is another performer to don gorilla suits for the movies, the other performer being Peter Elliot. She eventually gave up performing and is now working primarily as a unit manager and locations manager for films. I don't know for sure if she actually gave up being a performer, but if she did, I could understand why she would want to give up suit performing. It probably wasn't easy for Tessa to perform a g...

Jordan Lockhart is a Canadian puppeteer and actor who performs Wembley Fraggle and others on Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. He also performed the title character on Hi Opie and Opie's Home, which were also by the Henson Company. I will bet that Jordan felt delighted to perform on the reboot of the original Fraggle Rock as well as with both Dave Goelz and Karen Prell. Lockhart also did puppet work on some outside projects such as Totally Random, Canada Crew, and What's the Fuzz. In addition to being a puppeteer, he has also acted on-screen within Schitt's Creek, Baroness Von Sketch Show, and Beauty Sleep. I wonder how Jordan Lockhart got selected to perform Wembley on Back to the Rock, seeing as how he never worked with any Muppet performers before. Maybe one of the many Canadian performers selected him like Frank Meschkuleit or Ali J. Eisner. This will probably be a dream come true for him to work with the famous puppeteers and be in the Muppet Performer category. I wonder...

Andrew Davenport is a British puppeteer, showrunner, composer, and actor who is well known for his work at Ragdoll Productions. However, he is yet another puppeteer who hasn't worked in any Creature Shop projects or even projects by the Henson Company. Andrew is specialized in creating television and publishing for young children since 1993. Davenport started his work with Ragdoll Productions on Tots TV where he performed Tiny and wrote almost all the episodes, alongside Robin Stevens. He later co-created and wrote all the episodes of the ever popular children show Teletubbies, as well as directing many episodes. Later he created wrote, composed, and produced In the Night Garden, a show designed to help children relax when stressed. Andrew Davenport seems to work great with children and even babies as depicted in the shows he's worked on. But he should have also performed on projects by the Henson Company such as The Hoobs or Mopatop's Shop since both were filmed in England...

Jack Venturo is a puppeteer, filmmaker, contributor, and animator whose only Henson Company show so far was Earth to Ned. I don't know why he didn't do other Henson Company productions or Muppet projects, such as Muppets Haunted Mansion. Jack is probably more recognized for his work outside of Earth to Ned since he's done more projects featuring puppetry. Venturo puppeteered on Coyote Jack's Smoke Pit, Disney's Tsum Tsum Kingdom, Chit Chat with Richie, and many more. Other than puppetry, he is also an excellent filmmaker either writing, producing, and/or directing numerous series, films and shorts. Some of the films he made include Lost in the Wilderness, Stanley 2: The Legacy, Toy Geeks: Behind the Counter, and The Shortest Day, to name a few. Jack Venturo should show a couple Muppet performers his filmmaking and puppetry talents so that they can give him a chance to be with them in their next production. At least he got to work with puppeteers who worked with Mupp...

Heather Henson is an actress and the youngest of the five children of Jim and Jane Henson. She has made on-screen appearances in many projects like the Number Three Ball Film for Sesame Street, The Muppets Take Manhattan, an episode of The Storyteller (uncredited), and The Frog Prince (back when she was a baby). Heather also serves on The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, and The Jim Henson Foundation Boards of Directors. I have read that Henson's only known puppetry work was in the back seat of Beauregard's taxi in the 1981 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, alongside Jim and Cheryl Henson. She also worked in the Muppet Workshop for Muppets Tonight. Her outside work has placed her as a producer for the annual Orlando Puppet Festival, curator/distributor of the Handmade Puppet Dreams film series, and key person of Puppet Slam. From a baby to an adult, Heather Henson has been on screen and off screen throughout her life. I wonder if she was comfortable doing a cameo as...