Steve Whitmire

Steve Whitmire
Whitmire at a White House screening of Muppets Most Wanted in 2014.
Born	Steven Lawrence Whitmire September 24, 1959 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[1]
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Melissa Whitmire (m. 1978)[2]

Steven Lawrence "Steve" Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer, best known for being the performer of Kermit the Frog and Ernie—roles he inherited after Jim Henson's death in 1990.^[3] Whitmire has been with the Muppets since 1978,^[4] performing a variety of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock series and during such occupations has worked for the Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and Disney's The Muppets Studio.

Career

Steve Whitmire first appeared (unpaid), as a pre-show event at Six Flags Over Georgia. He performed with his then alter-ego puppet Otis for the children waiting to see a multimedia show.

From there Whitmire appeared on local Atlanta TV with his puppet Otis. WATL-TV was owned at that time by former Atlanta children's television host "Officer Don" Kennedy. Otis made appearances on various WATL 36 shows with Ludlow Porch, performing with the Georgia Bulldogs' Larry Munson, Don Kennedy, and Entertainment Page host Artie Goodman. As Otis, Whitmire interviewed Olivia Newton-John during a tour promoting an album.

He worked with puppets after graduating high school, and eventually got a job working on The Muppet Show in 1978. Since then, Whitmire has performed in almost every major Henson company project, including non-Muppet fares such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Dinosaurs.

Characters performed

Whitmire has been the performer of two signature Muppets—Kermit the Frog and Ernie—since the death of their creator and original performer Jim Henson in 1990. Whitmire was personally asked by Brian Henson to be Kermit's performer a few weeks after Jim Henson's death. Henson sent Whitmire a Kermit puppet to his residence, however, Whitmire hid the puppet away for weeks before deciding on taking on the role.^[5] In 2014, Billy Barkhurst took over the role of Ernie (since Season 45).^[6] Whitmire left the role so he could continue focusing on other projects by the The Muppets Studio.

Muppet characters original to Whitmire include Rizzo the Rat,^[7][8] Lips (the trumpet player from Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem), Foo-Foo (Miss Piggy's beloved dog), Fraggle Rock's Wembley Fraggle, and Bean Bunny.

Following the death of Richard Hunt and the retirement of Jerry Nelson, Whitmire took over the roles of Beaker and Statler. He voiced Link Hogthrob in the Muppet RaceMania and Muppet Party Cruise video games. He also performed Hogthrob for the 2011 film, The Muppets. This was the first speaking appearance of the puppet since the death of Jim Henson, the original performer of the character. Hogthrob appears in several scenes in the background and gets a moment in the spotlight as part of a barbershop quartet, singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Since 2008, Whitmire has also been the new performer of another of Jim Henson's roles, The Muppet Newsman.

Personal life

Whitmire has been married to his wife Melissa Whitmire since June 1978.^[9] Together, they live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Filmography

Film

Film credits
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1979	The Muppet Movie	Assistant for "Rainbow Connection" sequence, additional characters	Performer
1981	The Great Muppet Caper	Rizzo the Rat, Lips	Performer
1982	The Dark Crystal	skekTek the Scientist	Performer
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Rizzo the Rat, Gill the Frog, Dog, additional characters	Performer
1985	Dreamchild	The Caterpillar (puppetry only), Mock Turtle (puppetry only)	Puppeteer
1986	Labyrinth	The Four Guards (puppetry only), Firey 4 (puppetry only), Ambrosius (puppetry only)	Puppeteer
1992	The Muppet Christmas Carol	Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Sprocket, Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Belinda Cratchet, additional characters	Performer
1996	Muppet Treasure Island	Rizzo the Rat, Kermit the Frog, Beaker, The Dodo, Walleye Pike, Jacques Roach, Inkspots, Rats	Performer
1999	Muppets from Space	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Bean Bunny, Cosmic Fish, Beach hippie, Alien Gonzo	Performer/actor
1999	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Ernie, Bad Humor Man, Football Stenchman, Sharon Groan, Stuckweed, Parrot	Performer
2002	Kermit's Swamp Years	Kermit the Frog, Young Kermit, Chico, Jack Rabbit	Performer
2002	It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler (puppetry only), Mr. Poodlepants, Bean Bunny	Performer/puppeteer
2005	The Muppets' Wizard of Oz	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler	Performer
2007	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium	Kermit the Frog	Performer
2011	The Muppets	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Statler, Link Hogthrob, The Muppet Newsman, Lips	Performer
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Kermit the Frog, Foo-Foo, Statler, Beaker, Lips, Rizzo the Rat, Link Hogthrob, The Muppet Newsman, Andy Pig	Performer

Television

Television credits
Year(s)	Film	Role	Notes
1978–1981	The Muppet Show	Rizzo the Rat, Lips, Foo-Foo, Fletcher Bird (voice), additional characters	Performer
1979	The Muppets Go Hollywood	Additional characters, extra	Performer/actor
1979	The Muppet Movie	Kermit the Frog (assistant for "Rainbow Connection" number), additional characters	Performer
1979	John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together	Additional characters	Performer
1982	The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show	Rizzo the Rat, back-up singer, additional characters	Performer/actor
1983–1987	Fraggle Rock	Wembley Fraggle, Sprocket, Marlon Fraggle, Flange Doozer, Murray the Minstrel, additional characters	Performer
1983	Rocky Mountain Holiday	Rizzo the Rat, additional characters Wembley Fraggle	Performer
1986	The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years	Rizzo the Rat, additional characters	Performer
1986	The Christmas Toy	Mew	Performer
1986	The Tale of the Bunny Picnic	Bean Bunny	Performer
1987	A Muppet Family Christmas	Rizzo the Rat, Lips, Sprocket, Christmas Turkey, Wembley Fraggle,	Performer
1987	Inter Tube	Henry, Duke	Performer
1989	The Jim Henson Hour	Bean Bunny, Flash, Jacques Roach, Waldo C. Graphic, Yellow Extreme, additional characters	Performer
1990	The Muppets at Walt Disney World	Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Lips, additional characters	Performer
1990	The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson	Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Kermit the Frog	Performer
1991–1994	Dinosaurs	B.P. Richfield (puppetry), Robbie Sinclair (face), Chief Elder (face), Mr. Mason Dixon, Sonny Woody, Blarney, Judge H.T. Stone (puppetry)	Performer/puppeteer
1992–?	Muppet Meeting Films	Flunky, Mr. Briteweight, Kermit the Frog	Performer
1993	Sesame Street Stays Up Late!	Ernie	Performer
1993–2014	Sesame Street	Ernie (1993–2014), Kermit the Frog and Additional characters	Performer/voice
1994	Jim Henson's Animal Show	Jake the Polar Bear, Wingo the Shoebill, Lawrence the Orangutan	Performer
1994	Muppet Classic Theater	Rizzo the Rat, Kermit the Frog	Performer
1995	Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree	Bear, Kermit the Frog, Owl	Performer
1999	CinderElmo	Ernie, Kermit the Frog, Prince the Dog	Performer
1998	Elmopalooza	Kermit the Frog, Ernie	Performer
1996–1998	Muppets Tonight	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Bean Bunny, Captain Pighead, Andy Pig, Mr. Poodlepants, additional characters	Performer
1996	Elmo Saves Christmas	Kermit the Frog	Performer/puppeteer
2007–2008	Johnny and the Sprites	Statler	Performer
2008	Studio DC: Almost Live	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler	Performer
2008	A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler	Performer
2011	WWE Raw	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Statler	Puppeteer
2012	WWE Tribute to the Troops	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat	Puppeteer
2013	Good Luck Charlie	Kermit the Frog (Episode 78)	Puppeteer/Guest Star
2013	Lady Gaga and the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Statler	Performer
2015	Muppet Moments	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Statler, Sheep	Performer
2015–2016	The Muppets	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler, Lips, The Muppet Newsman	Performer

Other appearances

Other credits
Year(s)	Film	Role	Notes
1991–present	Muppet*Vision 3D	Waldo C. Graphic, Bean Bunny, Rizzo the Rat	Performer, voice
2005–2006	Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony	Statler (Ep. 1-8)	Performer
2008–2009	Muppet YouTube Shorts	Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler, Rabbits, Pumpkins, Penguins, Turkey	Performer
2010	The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Andy Pig, Foo-Foo, The Muppet Newsman	Performer
2013–2014	Muppisodes[10]	Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Statler	Performer
2014	Disney Drive-On with The Muppets[11]	Kermit the Frog	Performer
2016–present	The Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History	Kermit the Frog	Voice

References

1. "Ratting Out", Muppet Central, 1999. Accessed 24 November 2009.
2. Hennes, Joe (15 October 2008). "My Week with Steve: Day 4". ToughPigs.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
3. Lloyd, Robert (May 16, 2015). "If Harry Shearer leaves 'The Simpsons,' what will happen? Just ask Bugs Bunny". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
4. "'The Muppets' Return to TV; Miss Piggy Swans, Kermit Suffers". The Associated Press. The New York Times. September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
5. Irwin, Jon (September 2015). "On the Other Hand". Longreads. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
6. http://www.sesameworkshop.org/season46/behind-the-scenes/puppeteer-bios/billy-2/
7. "Voice Of Rizzo the Rat". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
8. top-story (2009-01-01). "The Stories Behind 20 Muppet Favorites". Mental Floss. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
9. Hennes, Joe (15 October 2008). "My Week with Steve: Day 4". ToughPigs.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
10. Graser, Marc (6 December 2013). "Watch: The Muppets Star in New Series of 'Muppisodes'". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
11. Graser, Marc (August 1, 2014). "Disney Launches The Muppets Digital Series". Variety. Retrieved August 2, 2014.

External links

• Steve Whitmire at the Internet Movie Database