Posts

Showing posts from December, 2022

Todd Mattox

Image
Todd Mattox is a puppeteer and writer who is perhaps best known for performing both Brush Brush & Leggs O Many on The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth. He has also puppeteered on Toby Terrier and His Video Pals and D.C. Follies, being credited as a Krofft puppeteer for the latter. Todd appears to be another guy to puppeteer for Sid and Marty Krofft as well as Sandey Grinn and Van Snowden. Mattox has also wrote for TV movies and shows, mainly for Reading Writing & Romance and Cloudy with a Chance of Love. He even worked on the first two Men in Black films as a puppeteer, which must have been exciting for him in my opinion. Other puppeteers he worked with include Dina Fraboni, Christine Papalexis, Greg Ballora, and Michael Earl, just to name a few. Todd Mattox seems that have performed with many Muppet performers, he just never worked with the Muppets in any projects, or did he? He might have served as an additional performer on Muppets Tonight and was uncredited for doing so. It

Kenny Stevenson

Image
Kenny Stevenson is a comedian, puppeteer, writer, and producer, as well as the husband of puppeteer Dorien Davies. He has performed in Henson Company shows Julie's Greenroom and Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time (as Edgar), and also on Henson Alternative's Stuffed and Unstrung. Other than that, Kenny has mainly been an actor/comedian with recurring parts on several shows. Some other shows Stevenson worked on include This is Us, Comedy Bang Bang, Brooklyn 99, and The UCB Show, just to name a few. As for his writing credits, he made a script called How To Be A Canadian which won 3 awards and also wrote for Love, Sex, and Missed Connections. Besides his wife, some other puppeteers he worked with include Amanda Maddock, John Tartaglia, Paul McGinnis, and Stephanie D'Abruzzo. Personally, I believe that Kenny Stevenson should have been given his own page on the Muppet Wiki since he did 2 projects, the latter of which he did a character. In his recent years, he teamed up with one of

David Matthew Feldman

Image
David Matthew Feldman is a puppeteer and writer who is best known for performing Mayor Meanswell on LazyTown. I've read that he was extremely fond of the Muppets when he was a kid, as well as other works involving puppetry. David later discovered his second passion for writing when he was in college and that's what made him the person he is today. Feldman got to work with other Muppet performers such as Jodi Eichelberger, Ronald Binion, Sarah Burgess, and Julie Westwood. In addition to working on LazyTown, other shows he puppeteered on include Crank Yankers, Between the Lions, Corn, and Helpsters. As for writing, so far he only did two shows, Oh Noah! and Chicken and Chips. In the recent years, David Matthew Feldman did puppetry on an episode of Pause with Sam Jay, but after that it is currently unknown what he's doing now, at least to my knowledge. Maybe someday his dream of being with the Muppets will come true, it's never too late for a person to be one of the Muppet

Marilyn Arnone

Image
Marilyn Arnone is a puppeteer, producer, and actress who is, once again, another puppeteer that hasn't worked with the Muppets but has worked with one of their performers. She made her first appearance on television back in 1963 as herself on What's My Line?. Years later, Marilyn has acted on-screen as Happy Harmony on The New Howdy Doody Show opposite of the marionette characters. In late 1990s, Arnone served as producer and performer of many puppet characters on Pappyland, working alongside Gabriel Velez. I wonder what she's been doing in the 1980s, probably doing either acting or puppetry since she's done hand and rod puppets and was a beginner at marionettes on Howdy Doody. She might have had more fun doing Pappyland as it allowed her to be producer as well as puppeteer, which I must say is very talented. I believe that Marilyn Arnone should be proud of her work since she was put on the Wall of Celebrities website. I read that she went on to be an associate professo

Vicki Veenstra

Image
Vicki Veenstra is a Canadian puppeteer, puppet builder, and wrangler who is known for doing freelance puppet work across Canada. She served as an apprentice puppeteer and key puppet builder for Big and Small, alongside Caitlin O'Reilly. Vicki was also puppet wrangler for Groundling Marsh, Zoboomafoo, and Higglety Pigglety Pop, and puppet builder on Ruffus the Dog and Panda Bear Daycare. Veenstra is probably more experienced with building since she did it more than puppetry. She has however started doing puppetry at the International Puppet Festival back in 2006 and was probably trained to puppeteer on Big and Small afterwards. Even though she hasn't worked with the Henson Company, she worked with several Muppet performers such as Fred Stinson, Karen Valleau, Bob Stutt, and Nina Keogh, just to name a few. It seems Vicki Veenstra spent her puppet building career with The Grogs, Radical Sheep Shop, and 3/Design Studio all of which were responsible for each show she did. Personally

Aliex Yuill

Image
Aliex Yuill is a British puppeteer, director, and producer who is well known for performing Jelly on The Story Makers and The Green Balloon Club. She was paired with Nick Mercer (who did Jackson) on the former and the pair also appeared together on a special episode of The Weakest Link. Other than doing puppetry, Aliex has also directed on-location segments for Tikkabilla and Fimbles. I've read Yuill also served as video tape producer/director for The Mysti Show and served as one of the directors on Hotch Potch House. Technically she has worked with Muppet performers on Hotch Potch, only she didn't do puppetry with them on that show. Other than Mercer, some of the puppeteers she directed are Victoria Willing, Nigel Plaskitt, Rebecca Nagan, and Francis Wright, to name a few. Even though Aliex Yuill didn't work with the Muppets, she still got to work with several of them on Hotch Potch House. If only she had a proper image of herself, then people will know what she looked lik

Van Snowden

Image
Van Snowden was a puppeteer and suit performer who was best known for his work in productions by Sid and Marty Krofft. He donned the suit of the title character on H.R. Pufnstuf and also did Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, and Lidsville. Van was also known for puppeteering the Crypt Keeper on Tales from the Crypt and puppeteering Chucky in the first 3 Child's Play films. Snowden seemed to be an expert on performing in the horror genre, but he was also an expert with kids. For kid projects, he puppeteered on Dumbo's Circus, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, D.C. Follies (also assistant puppet builder), and Toby Terrier. Some of the people he worked with include Sharon Baird, Patty Maloney, Sandey Grinn, and Todd Mattox, just to name a few. I've read that Van Snowden was also the head of Hasbro's puppeteer division for the last three years of his life, devising programming for several of its toys. In 2010, he died of cancer which meant the end of his career, but no

Nick Mercer

Image
Nick Mercer is an English presenter, puppeteer, voice actor, and suit performer who is best known for his work on UK television for both adults and kids. He performed on several UK children shows like Greenclaws (as the title character), The Story Makers (as Jackson), Fun Song Factory (as Ozzy's voice), and Playdays, to name a few. This shows that Nick has done suit performance and puppetry over the years but he mainly does voice acting for UK television. The voice of Mercer can be heard on Bob the Builder, Those Scurvy Rascals, Olive the Ostrich, and many more. Some other puppeteers he worked with over the years include Sally Preisig, Ellie Darvill, Sue Monroe, and Aliex Yuill. I've read that he played Timon in The Lion King Musical since 2005 as seen throughout other parts of the world such as London and Switzerland. It's fascinating how a guy like Nick Mercer can do different forms of acting whether it's on-stage, on-screen, or off-screen. He's still working on t

Ric Heitzman

Image
Ric Heitzman is a puppeteer, production designer, director, and artist who is best known for performing various characters on Pee-Wee's Playhouse. He served as production designer on that show too, along with Wayne White. Other puppeteers Ric worked with, other than White, include Van Snowden, Alison Mork, George McGrath, and Kevin Carlson. In addition, Heitzman has also served as a director for two projects each for only one time, The PJs and Web Premiere Toons: The Pitch. I have read on his website that he also directed and designed live-action series for Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop (known as Children's Television Workshop back then), and CBS/Fox-TV. There should also be more credits on his site that reveal what other shows he puppeteered on. Ric Heitzman otherwise drew and painted several works of art that can be found in exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and more. It's cool how he was able to become famous showing off his various works of art all acr

Marcia Coutiño

Image
Marcia Coutiño is a Mexican actress and puppeteer who performed Elefancio on Plaza Sesamo in the 2005 season. She also performed various other Muppets in the Plaza Sesamo videos but it's unknown which characters she did, as of now. Marcia is more well known for appearing on telenovelas, mostly in bit parts, such as Alma rebelde and Amar otra vez. Coutiño also appeared in several Mexican series like Para volver a amar, Durmiendo con mi jefe, and Mujer, casos de la vida real, just to name a few. Even though she only puppeteered for one season, she still got to work with others such as Odin Dupeyron, Rocio Lara, and Eugenio Bartilotti. Recently she became an editor for a Mexican music video coming soon, which should sound good on YouTube when it gets on it. It's a shame Marcia Coutiño only did an elephant's trunk while on Plaza Sesamo, before Itzel Tapia took over, but I'm sure she performed other characters while on the show. She's still acting on Mexican series today