Brian Meehl | |
---|---|
Born | Brian Giuseppe Meehl August 24, 1952 Canandaigua, New York, U.S. |
Other names | Brian Muehl |
Occupation(s) | Puppeteer, writer |
Years active | 1978–present |
Spouse | Cindy Meehl |
Brian Giuseppe Meehl (also known as Brian Muehl; born August 24, 1952), is an American puppeteer and writer.
Meehl was born in Canandaigua, New York, and grew up mostly in Iowa City, Iowa.
Meehl worked on the last six shows of The Muppet Show . He then worked on Sesame Street , performing Barkley, Grundgetta, Telly Monster, and an early version of Elmo, among other characters. His work with Henson also included roles in the films, The Dark Crystal , The Muppets Take Manhattan and The Great Muppet Caper .
In 1984, Meehl left the Muppets and began writing for children's television series including Between the Lions , Codename: Kids Next Door , Cyberchase , the TUGS segments for Salty's Lighthouse , Eureeka's Castle , and The Magic School Bus , with the only exception being the general-interest nature and science documentary series Eyewitness for the BBC and DK Vision, where he also served as script supervisor for a number of episodes in the first season before leaving the series entirely during the second season.
Meehl has written seven young adult novels: Out of Patience (2008), Suck It Up (2009), You Don't Know About Me (2011), and Suck It Up and Die (2012). He released an eBook and paperback adult novel, Pastime , in 2012. More recently, Meehl has completed his Blowback Trilogy: Blowback '07, (2016), Blowback '63 (2017), and Blowback '94 (2020) about time-traveling teenage twins who fall back into little known but pivotal events in history.
Elmo is a red Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full five-minute segment on Sesame Street, "Elmo's World", which is aimed at toddlers. He was most often puppeteered by Kevin Clash, but since Clash's resignation in late 2012, Elmo has been puppeteered by Ryan Dillon.
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is a 1999 American musical adventure comedy film directed by Gary Halvorson in his feature film debut. This was the second of the two theatrical feature films to be based on the children's television series Sesame Street, after Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird. It stars Mandy Patinkin and Vanessa Williams alongside Muppet performers Kevin Clash, Caroll Spinney, Steve Whitmire, and Frank Oz.
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.
Rosita is a Muppet character on the children's television series Sesame Street. Fluent in both American English and Mexican Spanish, she is the first regular bilingual Muppet on the show. Rosita comes from Mexico and likes to play the guitar.
Big Bird in China is a 1983 television special based on the children's television series Sesame Street produced by Children's Television Workshop and China Central Television. It was originally broadcast on May 29, 1983, on NBC. Big Bird, Barkley and Little Xiao Fu travel through China to find Feng Huang, the Phoenix bird.
Kathryn Mullen is an American puppeteer, actress, and voice actress most closely associated with Jim Henson projects.
Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting is a 1989 television special celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Bill Cosby, the special aired on Friday, April 7, 1989, on NBC.
Elmopalooza! is a Sesame Street 30th anniversary special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. It was taped in the middle of the 29th season of Sesame Street, and features music video remakes of several classic songs from the show performed by celebrity guests.
Pamela Arciero is an American puppeteer and voice-over artist. She has performed for Between the Lions and Sesame Street, playing Oscar the Grouch's girlfriend Grundgetta in the latter. In addition to performance work, she worked as a director on the Noggin preschool series Oobi, which featured both writers and performers of Sesame Street. She is also the Artistic Director of the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.
Cheryl Blaylock is an American puppeteer who performed the title character on Eureeka's Castle from 1989 to 1991. Blaylock is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Before she starred in the title role on Eureeka's Castle, she performed on Sesame Street and in The Muppets Take Manhattan. After Eureeka's Castle, Blaylock played characters on other projects like Oobi, The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth, and Blue's Room.
Noel MacNeal, sometimes credited as Noel McNeal or Edward Noel MacNeal, is an American puppeteer, actor, director, singer, and writer of children's television who has performed since the early 1980s. He was the voice and puppeteer of Bear on Bear in the Big Blue House. He also starred as Kako on Oobi, Leon MacNeal on The Puzzle Place and as Magellan on Eureeka's Castle. He is also the resident puppeteer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, portraying puppet characters such as "Mr. Nutterbutter".
A wide variety of characters have appeared on the American children's television series Sesame Street. Many of the characters are Muppets, which are puppets made in Jim Henson's distinctive puppet-creation style. Most of the non-Muppet characters are human characters, but there are many characters that are animated.
Bob Payne is an American retired puppeteer and puppet builder. He is also known as Robert Payne and Bobby Payne.
Joseph Mazzarino is an American puppeteer, writer, director and actor. He is best known for his roles on Sesame Street as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on Sesame Street, winning 22 Emmy Awards for his work.
Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration is a television special which was first broadcast on PBS on March 6, 1994 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the educational television series Sesame Street. Its home-video version, Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years was released on October 29, 1993. Caroll Spinney plays Big Bird, reading the title card in a voiceover. Celebrity guests and the Muppets sing songs together.
Sesame Street, Special is a pledge-drive special that is based on the children's series, Sesame Street. It aired on PBS stations in March 1988 as part of PBS' March fundraiser.
Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration is a 2019 musical television special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the special aired on November 9, 2019, on HBO, followed by a November 17 airing on PBS. It stars the cast and Muppets of Sesame Street, including Kermit the Frog, from the past and present. Many retired cast members and characters reunited on the street for the first time in years since their last appearances. This is the final Sesame Street special to feature long-time Muppet performer Caroll Spinney, who performed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for 50 years as well as the cast members Emilio Delgado and Bob McGrath, who played Luis and Bob, respectively, for 45 years.