Sesame Park is the Canadian version of Sesame Street co-produced by Sesame Workshop and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Friendly Giant was a children's television program that aired on CBC Television from September 30, 1958 through to March 1985. It featured three main characters: a giant named Friendly, who lived in a huge castle, along with his puppet animal friends Rusty, and Jerome. The two principal puppets of the CBC version of the show were manipulated and voiced by Rod Coneybeare. Originally in Wisconsin, they were manipulated and voiced by Ken Ohst.
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer, director and producer known for puppeteering Elmo on Sesame Street from 1985 to 2012. He also performed puppets for Labyrinth, Dinosaurs, Oobi, and various Muppet productions.
Under the Umbrella Tree is a Canadian children's television series created by Noreen Young that originally aired on CBC from 1987 to 1993. It was produced by CBC and Noreen Young Productions, and later by The Disney Channel, which began airing it on May 7, 1990.
Almonte is a former mill town in Lanark County, in the eastern portion of Ontario, Canada. Formerly a separate municipality, Almonte is a ward of the town of Mississippi Mills, which was created on January 1, 1998, by the merging of Almonte with Ramsay and Pakenham townships. Almonte is 46 kilometres (29 mi) south-west of downtown Ottawa. Its population as recorded in the 2016 Canadian Census was 5,039.
William Britton "Bil" Baird was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he and his puppets performed for millions of adults and children. One of his better known creations was Charlemane the lion. He and his wife Cora Eisenberg Baird (1912–1967) produced and performed the famous puppetry sequence for "The Lonely Goatherd" in the film version of The Sound of Music. His son Peter Baird was also a puppeteer, and he continued his family's legacy until his own death in July 2004.
Bob Dermer is a Canadian actor who first made his contributions to Canadian television in 1965 as an actor in Ottawa on a late night serial called Milk and Honey which ran for 200 episodes.
A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hands that occupies the interior of the puppet. A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's hands inside the puppet glove holding a rod which controls the head, and the puppet's body then hangs over most or all of the forearm of the puppeteer, and possibly extends further. Other parts of the puppet may be controlled by different means, e.g., by rods operated by the puppeteer's free hand, or strings or levers pulled the head or body. A smaller variety, simple hand puppets often have no significant manipulable parts at all. Finger puppets are not hand puppets as they are used only on a finger.
Dan Redican is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, The Frantics. As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the Frantic Times radio show, Four on the Floor TV show. They also have written and performed many albums which are still available on the website, Frantics.com.
Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real time by computers. It is most commonly used in filmmaking and television production, but has also been used in interactive theme park attractions and live theatre.
Nina Keogh is a Canadian puppet builder, voice actress and puppeteer. She is a former member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Canadian Actors' Equity Association, UDA, and is an ACTRA member since 1968. She was on the board of directors for ACTRA and the Children's Broadcast Institute. She has worked for TVO and CBC Television. She is best-known for playing the role of Muffy the Mouse in TVO's 1981-87 TV series Today's Special, which was shown worldwide including on Nickelodeon in the United States. Her father, John Keogh, played Howard the Turtle in Razzle Dazzle. Keogh retired from the television business in 1999 to become a professional painter.
Alice Catherine Dinnean is an American puppeteer, voice actress and creative writer who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean has performed on many children's television shows such as The Puzzle Place, Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, Cousin Skeeter, Jim Henson's Pajanimals, Sid the Science Kid and Jack's Big Music Show. She also did work on various non-Muppet productions such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer buses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex.
Hi Diddle Day is a Canadian children's television series which aired on CBC Television from 1969 to 1976.
Cheryl Wagner, is a Canadian puppeteer, producer, director and writer, who is the creator of the TV series The Big Comfy Couch, is a Gemini Award and Emmy award- winning Canadian children's television writer, showrunner and producer who began her career as a performer in both theatre and on the screen. Her Halifax-based touring Merrytime Clown and Puppet Company in which Wagner worked as a clown and puppeteer from 1977 to 1980 provided a fertile ground for her later work as a producer and writer in children's entertainment.
Daniel McCarthy was a Canadian radio and television producer and the former head of children's programming at CBC Television (CBC). He worked at the CBC for thirty-three years, including a twelve-year tenure as the head of the CBC's children's programming department. McCarthy created, developed and produced such well known Canadian children's television shows as The Friendly Giant, Mr. Dressup, and Sesame Park.
Farooq Qaiser was a Pakistani artist, newspaper columnist, TV show director, puppeteer, script writer, and voice actor. He was known as the creator of the fictional puppet character Uncle Sargam introduced in 1976 in children's television show Kaliyan. Farooq was also a cartoonist, newspaper columnist and wrote for the newspaper Daily Nai Baat in Lahore and under the pen name "Meethay Karelay".
Ryan Dillon is an American puppeteer who has worked as an ensemble muppeteer for the Jim Henson Company since 2005. He also played Cooper and Paul Ball for the interactive series Sesame Street TV for Xbox Kinect, and appeared on all four seasons of the new CBeebies and co-productions of Sesame Street, The Furchester Hotel, and The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo as Elmo. In March 2017, Dillon was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming.
Cheryl Lee Henson has served as the President of the Jim Henson Foundation since 1992. She is a philanthropist and supporter of puppetry arts and artists, and serves as a board member of The Jim Henson Company. She was honored in 2010 at the LaMama Gala, and in 2011, she won the New Victory Arts Award for her leadership in puppetry.
