Allan Trautman | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | Washington University in St. Louis |
Occupation | Puppeteer |
Years active | 1974–present |
Allan Trautman (born May 25, 1955) is an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Jim Henson Company.
He is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Trautman has a B.A. in Physics and Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. He later obtained an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts in 1978.
He had his first job as a puppeteer during college working on The Letter People. Trautman spent two summers performing at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. [1] [2] He stayed in Los Angeles after graduation and performed with Sid and Marty Krofft. Trautman began working with the Muppets in 1990 on Muppet*Vision 3D , still showing in the Disney theme parks. He has been working with Jim Henson's Creature Shop since 1991 on animatronic projects as well as The Henson Digital Performance Studio. [3] He is a cast member of Henson Alternative's puppet improv show, Puppet Up! (a.k.a. Stuffed and Unstrung), [4] touring to such places as Melbourne [5] and Sydney, Australia. [6] He has also teaches Improvisation at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. [7]
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, surrealist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they have become a media franchise encompassing children's films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the characters of the Muppets franchise were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.
Frank Oz is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through The Muppets, Sesame Street, and Star Wars, as well as his directorial work in feature films and theater.
Jerry Nelson was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Known for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and various Muppet movies and specials.
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Steven Lawrence Whitmire is an American puppeteer, known primarily for his work on The Muppets and Sesame Street. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire inherited the roles of Ernie and Kermit the Frog after Jim Henson's death in 1990; he performed the characters until 2014 and 2016, respectively. As part of the Muppet cast, he has appeared in multiple feature films and television series, performing a variety of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock and during such occupations has been employed by The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and The Muppets Studio.
Sam and Friends is an American live-action and puppet sketch comedy television series and a lead-in to The Tonight Show created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane Nebel. It was aired live twice daily as a local series in Washington, D.C., on WRC-TV in black and white, and later color, on weeknights from May 9, 1955, to December 15, 1961. However, most of the original episodes were never recorded, and are considered lost. A few surviving episodes can be viewed at the Paley Center for Media but many can also be found on video websites like YouTube, such as those digitally archived by The Jim Henson Company. Some have been documented by either the Henson Archives or newspaper articles published while the show was still on air.
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Michael Earl was an American puppeteer. A four-time Emmy Award-winner whose credits include Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street (1978–1981) and Dr. Ticktock in Ticktock Minutes, a musical series of PSA's on PBS he also co-created, scripted and wrote lyrics for that garnered 11 Southern Regional Emmys, a 1998 National Emmy for Best Public Service Announcements, a Gabriel Award, two Parents' Choice Awards and numerous other honors. Earl performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks and puppeteered lead characters in Paramount Pictures' Team America: World Police.
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Mak Wilson is a now retired English puppeteer, writer, CG animation director, and mocap artist. He is also known as Mac Wilson and Malcolm Wilson.
Mike Quinn is an English puppeteer, animator, actor, director, producer, voice-over artist, puppet builder, composer and mentor. He is also known as Mike Quinby, Michael E. Quinn, and Michael Quinn.
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