Bill Diamond, (born June 5, 1957) is an American puppeteer, puppet fabricator, and producer. [1] He worked for Jim Henson at his New York office, and has won three Emmy Awards for his work on the YES Network.
Bill Diamond, (born June 5, 1957) is an American puppeteer, puppet fabricator, and producer. [1] He worked for Jim Henson at his New York office, and has won three Emmy Awards for his work on the YES Network.
Diamond began his career in the entertainment industry as a child actor. [2] As a teenager in High School, he created his own stop-motion animation films, ran his own theatre company, and began building puppets. At the age of twenty-three, Diamond was introduced to Muppet’s creator, Jim Henson. [3]
In 1976, Diamond created his production company, Bill Diamond Productions. [2] Diamond produced and directed multiple television series in the 80’s and 90’s including, Stuffy’s Place, The Land of the Moonshins, and Dr. Rock’s Dinosaur Adventures, which appeared on Fox. [4] He was also the associate producer of the documentaries, The Phantom of the Opera: Unmasking the Masterpiece, and The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World. [5] [6]
The off-Broadway version of Audrey 2, the carnivorous plant from Little Shop of Horrors, was originally created by Sesame Street puppeteer Martin P. Robinson. [7] The play became extremely popular, and in 1984, Diamond was hired to build and puppeteer Audrey 2, and still operates the giant plant puppet for the Little Shop of Horrors road tours to this day. [8] [9]
In 2001, a massive blaze completely engulfed Diamond's studio in Peekskill, New York. Over 200 of Diamond's puppets and original creations were destroyed. [3] Diamond rebuilt the studio in an industrial complex in Cornwall, New York, but in January 2012, a six alarm fire destroyed the majority of that industrial complex. Diamond's studio and creations survived the second fire, leaving only water damage in the complex. [10] The smoke from the fire was seen from the George Washington Bridge more than 40 miles away. [11]
In 2016, The Jim Henson Company sponsored a fan film competition held on The Dark Crystal website. The competition invited fans to create and submit animated short films inspired by the Jim Henson film. Bill Diamond Productions submitted a short film for the competition titled, “Rise of the Skeksis”, and received an honorable mention. [12] [13]
In 2021, the first episode of the Toking with the Dead series was released to the public. This production, directed and produced by Bill Diamond, and based on the comic book of the same name, is a series based on educating through adult humor the positive effects of medical cannabis. [14]
In 2021, Bill Diamond Productions released their holiday special, Claus and the Fairies. The film was written and created by Tammy Stallard, dedicated to her brother Jeffrey, and sponsored by The Beast Within Productions. The charming holiday special, based on the early folklore of Santa Clause being a part of the fairy kingdom, features quaint character puppets such as Gnome Brooks, narrated by Gremlins and Salacious B. Crumb (Return of the Jedi) voice actor, Mark Dodson, which also features other voices of fairies, gnomes, and sprites in the film. Bill Diamond puppeteers multiple characters in the production. [15]
In 2005, Bill Diamond was presented with an Aurora Award for his television creation, Monster TV Network, which "reunites the classic horror monsters (in puppet form) in their very own show". [16]
Diamond won a bronze Telly Award for producing and directing the show, Mike Bennett on the Road, in 2008. [17] [18]
In 2015, Diamond won his first Emmy Award for his work on the YES Network's Yankees Post Game Show - Mo’s Last Home Game as the lighting director. [19] [20]
He won his second Emmy in 2017 for set design on the YES Network for Brooklyn Nets Specialty Set Design, and was nominated for another for lighting director for YES's Brooklyn Nets Specialty Look. [21] [22]
In 2019, Diamond's company, Bill Diamond Productions, was one of the Telly Award's Silver Winners for the Entertainment General-Online category. The company received the award for their production, Gorgo's Christmas Carol Narrated by Vincent Price. [23]
Diamond won his third Emmy Award in 2020. This time for set design for the YES Network's Yankees Buzz in the Bronx. [24] [25]
Bill Diamond and Bill Diamond Productions won their third Telly Award in the Bronze category in 2021 for their production of "Claus and the Fairies”, written and created by Tammy Stallard. [26]
Bill Diamond and Bill Diamond Productions crew won their fourth Telly Award in the Bronze category in 2024 for their new streaming series "Gorgo's Graveyard Shift" episode 1. The series is a late night entertainment on the road at comic conventions and features celebrity interviews from Gorgo the Gargoyle puppet character host from his Monster TV Network. The first episode features interviews with Lucinda Jenney, Sam Irvin, and dear departed Veronica Carlson. The series streams on Red Coral Universe. |url=https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2024/branded-content/general-entertainment/gorgos-graveyard-shift-episode-1/312222/ |website=The Telly Awards |access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref>
James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and as the director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986).
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.
Martin P. Robinson is an American puppeteer who works for the Jim Henson Company. He is best known for his work on Sesame Street, having performed the characters of Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm Slimey, Oscar's niece Irvine, Buster the Horse, and Shelley the Turtle for over 40 years. He also designed, built, and performed the Audrey II puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. Robinson performed the characters Riff the Cat and Clef the dad on Allegra's Window, and was an animatronic puppeteer for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He was responsible for training the puppeteers on Sesame Tree, and performed the Cat in the Hat in the second season of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. The plot revolves around Jen and Kira, two Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal.
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, commonly known by the shortened title Muppet Babies, is an American animated television series produced by Marvel Productions and Henson Associates. The show portrays toddler versions of the Muppets living together in a nursery under the care of a woman known as Nanny, involving the concepts of the power of imagination and creative problem-solving. The show's main target group is for children aged 2–5. The idea of presenting the Muppets as children appeared in a dream sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), released two months before Muppet Babies debuted. The idea was a success, and it transformed into a spin-off.
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer, director and producer best known for puppeteering Elmo on Sesame Street from 1985 to 2012. He also performed puppets for Labyrinth, Dinosaurs, Oobi, and various Muppet productions.
Kermit Ernest Hollingshead Love was an American puppet maker, puppeteer, costume designer, and actor in children's television and on Broadway. He was best known as a designer and builder with the Muppets, in particular those on Sesame Street.
Jerome Ravn Juhl was an American television and film writer, best known for his work with The Muppets.
David Charles Goelz is an American puppeteer, puppet builder and actor, known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf, Zoot and Beauregard, originating on The Muppet Show. Goelz's puppeteering roles also included in Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Outside of puppeteering work, he was also the voice of Figment in the Journey into Imagination with Figment attraction at Epcot.
Eric Jacobson is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as Sesame Street characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney, and Jim Henson.
John Nicholas Tartaglia is an American puppeteer, actor, and singer.
Kathryn Mullen is an American puppeteer, actress, and voice actress most closely associated with Jim Henson projects.
Bill Barretta is an American puppeteer, producer, writer, director and actor, who is best known for providing the puppetry and voice of The Muppets characters such as Pepe the King Prawn, Bobo the Bear and Johnny Fiama. He originated the role of Louie, Elmo's dad, on Sesame Street. Barretta also inherited the roles of Rowlf the Dog, The Swedish Chef, and Dr. Teeth after the death of The Muppets creator Jim Henson.
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.
Tim Lagasse is an American director, puppeteer and puppet designer. He has worked on films and television programs for Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and HBO. He is known for playing the title character on Noggin's Oobi, and Crash on Disney XD's Crash & Bernstein.
Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories is a children's television show hosted by Mother Goose, who tells her three goslings the stories behind well-known nursery rhymes.
The Muppets on Puppets is a 1970 TV special created by Jim Henson. The special was produced in June 1968 at public television station WITF-TV in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for National Educational Television. It aired on New York's WNET on January 5, 1970, as part of the station's Adventure in the Arts anthology series. Henson and company made three additional specials in color as part of the series at WITF-TV. The special is included as a bonus feature on the DVD set The Muppet Show: Season Three. This release includes a few audio drop-outs due to the video source.
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.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American fantasy television series produced, made and owned by The Jim Henson Company. It is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. It follows the story of three Gelflings: Rian, Deet, and Brea, as they journey together on a quest to unite the Gelfling clans to rise against the tyrannical Skeksis and save their planet Thra from a destructive blight known as the Darkening. The series premiered on August 30, 2019, to critical acclaim. In September 2020, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after one season.
Lyle Conway is an actor, puppeteer, and designer, best known for his work with Jim Henson on The Dark Crystal (1982) and his work on Little Shop of Horrors through the creation of the Audrey II puppet.