Frank Oz

Frank Oz (born May 25,1944) is a British-born American film director, actor and puppeter. He is Jim Henson's closest collaborator, as well as his best friend. He is best known for performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Animal, Marvin Suggs, George the Janitor and others in The Muppet Show (he also did the hands of The Swedish Chef) and Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster on Sesame Street.

He is also well-known for playing Jedi Grand Master Yoda in the Star Wars films.

He also voiced Fungus, Randall's assisstant in Monsters Inc.

Frank Oz and Jim Henson
It was with the several characters on which the two collaborated. Jim Henson and Frank Oz, together, made such memorable pairings as Ernie and Bert, as well as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, and The Swedish Chef. 3 other characters that Oz performed, Fozzie Bear, Grover and Cookie Monster, would play off of Kermit on numerous occasions, and there was also Lefty the Salesman, who tried to fool poor Ernie on several occasions. Other pairings of the team's characters include Rowlf the Dog and Fozzie Bear, along with Rowlf sometimes paired with Miss Piggy. Kermit also had to listen to another of Frank's characters, Sam the Eagle endlessly complain about the weirdness of what was shown normally on The Muppet Show. Also, when it came time for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem to perform a number on any Muppet Show episode, Henson's Dr. Teeth and Oz's Animal were always positioned right next to each other on the bandstand, even after Jim died. Also, in episode 302, when guest star Leo Sayer had asked to meet Animal, Dr. Teeth brought Animal into Leo's dressing room so Animal could meet him. As in the case of Kermit and Piggy, on several occasions, Henson's characters usually became victim to Oz's characters, and, occasionally, vice versa. For example, Kermit became Marvin Suggs' victim in episode 506 of The Muppet Show, as well as Animal. The 1st time this occurred was in episode 110, when Animal beat on Kermit like a drum to get him to forget about replacing Animal as the show's drummer. They also worked together in the early 1980s while co-directing/performing in The Dark Crystal. They also played the parents in the Twiddlebug family with Henson performing the father, Thomas Twiddlebug, and with Oz performing the mother, Tessie Twiddlebug. It can be seen clearly that Jim and Frank had always been like brothers, like their primary characters on Sesame Street, Ernie and Bert, respectively, are today. At his Memorial Service, 5 short days after his death, Frank speaks of a Christmas gift Jim gave him, which he called Bert in Self-Contemplation". He starts to cry but manages to say "That's when I knew, he loved me & I loved him."

Michael K. Frith says that Henson & Oz's work was inspiring:

"I've always said, & I still believe, that we all basically rode on the coat tails of Jim Henson & Frank Oz. They were a comedy duo that is up there with Laurel & Hardy. I mean, they had that sense of timing, they had that sense of play between themselves, they had the ability to understand each others characters & play off them with their characters.""

Current Muppet Status
Starting in the mid-1990s, after 3+ decades of Muppet performing, Oz began to transition himself away from his Muppet duties to focus on directing. Immediately following Muppets from Space, all his main Muppet Show characters have been handed over to Eric Jacobson, who has also mostly taken over Bert & Grover, while David Rudman has become the new performer for Cookie Monster. Although, as David & Eric have once said, Oz usually comes in 4 or 5 times a year & will do a "Bert Day", "Grover Day", "Cookie Day", etc.

Muppeteer Credits

 * Commercials: Delbert the La Choy Dragon (body), The Southern Colonel (assistant)
 * Sesame Street: Aladdin, Alistair Cookie, As I Was Going to St. Ives girl, The Barber, Bart, Baskerville the Hound, Beautiful Day Monster, Bert, Betty Lou (occasional), Bruce Rumpelstiltskin, The Cat, Charlie, Cloud (in "Here Is Your Life"), Consider Yourself girl & boy, Cookie Monster, Count von Count's Bats, Doc Holiday, Dr. Rainbrain, End, Farmer Frankie, Fat Blue "Fat Cat" performer, Frances Oznowicz, Grover, Grover's Mommy (1970s), Harvey Kneeslapper, Helen Happy, Humpty Dumpty (70s), Jascha Lombardi, J Friend, Keith Hearburn, King Kenny the Kind, Larry Rhymie, Lefty the Salesman, Little Miss Muffet (1971), Lucy Jones, Mailman, Mr. Draper, Mrs. Rooney, Old King Cole's Band Lavender fiddler & Fat Blue saxophone player, The Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe ("Sesame Street News Flash"), Parker Piper, The Pied Piper, a pineapple from "Bilingual Fruit Song", Pinocchio, Poppa Piper, Porter Piper, Prince Charming, Princess Penelope, Professor Hastings, Pumpkin Anything Muppet doctor from "The People in Your Neighborhood", Pumpkin Anything Muppet woman from "I Want to Hold Your Ear", Purple Anything Muppet female back-up singer from "Mahna Mahna", Rocky's Mother, Rosemary, Sad Man, Sally Screamer, Scudge (1969), Sister (albums only), The Tallest Person in the Kingdom, Smilin' Jack, Snow White (1971), The Square, Susie, T-Shirt Salesman, The Smallest Person in the Kingdom, Tessie Twiddlebug, Tooth, The Tortoise (1971), The Wicked Witch, Yellow Submarine Purple captain, Yip Yip Martians, Zippy Zoomers
 * The Ed Sullivan Show: Furryface, Dancer
 * Hey Cinderella!: Stepsister # 1, Rufus
 * The Great Santa Claus Switch: Boppity, Hoppity, Skippity, Snerf #1, Thig
 * Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Beautiful Day Monster (Muppetry only)
 * One to One: Marvin
 * The Frog Prince: Gawain
 * Saturday Night Live: The Mighty Favog, Food, Glig
 * The Muppet Show: Sex & Violence: Forcryingoutloud Bird, Pig, Purple Heap, Ruler, Theodore Roosevelt
 * The Muppet Show: Alien, Animal (1975-2000), Baskerville the Hound (episode 110), Black Rooster, Boo Mortmorkinson, Blue Frackle (episode 104, episode 107), Dancers, Doglion (episode 211), Feather Boa Constrictor, Fozzie Amoeba, Fozzie Bear (1976-1999), Frank, Fred, George the Janitor, Geri & the Atrics (piano player), Gingerbread Man, Green Frackle (episode 103), Gorgon Heap (episode 103, episode 204), Gramps, House #3 (episode 119), Hugga Wugga, Male Koozebanian Creature, Marvin Suggs, Mary Louise (episode 204), Mean Mama (occasional), Merdlidop, Mildred Huxtetter ("At the Dance", Season 1), Miss Piggy (1976-2002), Rowlf the Dog (assistant), Salzburg Sauerkraut Singer, Sam the Eagle (1975-1999), Shark (episode 402), Sheep Wolf, Slim Wilson (episode 322), The Snowths, The Swedish Chef (hands), The Swedish Pig
 * Muppet Meeting Films: Grump, Kent, Sam the Eagle
 * Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas: Chuck Stoat, Alice Otter (Muppetry only)
 * Christmas Eve on Sesame Street: Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster
 * The Muppet Movie: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * The Dark Crystal: Aughra (Muppetry), SkekSil (Muppetry)
 * The Great Muppet Caper: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan: Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Follow That Bird: Bert, Grover, Cookie_Monster
 * Labyrinth: The Wiseman (puppeteer only)
 * A Muppet Family Christmas: Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Muppet*Vision 3D: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, & Whatnots
 * The Muppets at Walt Disney World: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, & Animal
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol: Miss Piggy (as Emily Cratchit), Fozzie Bear (as Fozziwig), Animal, Sam the Eagle, Vegetable Seller, & Mr Bitte
 * Muppet Treasure Island: Miss Piggy (as Benjamina Gunn), Fozzie Bear, (as Squire Trelawney), Animal & Sam the Eagle (as Samuel Arrow)
 * Muppets Tonight: The Lion, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * The Animal Show: Sam the Eagle (1 episode)
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late: Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Uncle Hank
 * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Bert, Grover, & Cookie Monster
 * Muppets from Space: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Muppet RaceMania: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Elmo's Potty Time: Grover