Puppeteer with hand puppets.

A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or her own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally. Some puppet styles require puppeteers to work together as a team to create a single puppet character.

There are a wide range of styles of puppetry but whatever the style, the puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature.

The relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet-maker is often assumed to be similar to that between an actor and a playwright. This may be so, but one of the characteristics of puppetry is that very often the puppeteer assumes the joint roles of puppet-maker, director, designer, writer and performer. In this case a puppeteer is a more complete theatre practitioner than is the case within other theatre forms.

Puppetry is a live medium and this distinguishes it from animation in which animators make a puppet appear to move by using a stop motion film technique in which the puppet is moved tiny fractions between each frame.

List of notable professional puppeteers[link]

Leslie Fleming, seen her with her character Bleeckie, is among a generation of puppeteers to focus on the web as a primary distribution point for their work. The director of tourism and cultural services for Walker County, Texas has attributed the character's popularity to helping boost tourism numbers to the area.^[1]

• Anton Aicher - Founder of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• Astell-Burt Caroline - co-founder of London School of Puppetry]]
• Gretl Aicher - Artistic director of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• Cosmo Allegretti - Captain Kangaroo's Mr. Moose and Mr. Bunny Rabbit
• Pam Arciero - Grundgetta from Sesame Street.
• Anthony Asbury -
• Audrey Atterbury - Puppeteer on Andy Pandy, the Flower Pot Men and The Woodentops, among others
• Don Austen -
• Bob Baker - 400 movies, first puppeteer on TV – Los Angeles KHJ in 1939.
• Bil Baird -
• Jennifer Barnhart - Cleo Lion from Between the Lions.
• Bill Barretta -
• Trace Beaulieu - Mystery Science Theater 3000's Crow T. Robot
• Marek Bečka - Founder of Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets") and lecturer in puppetry, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
• Michèle Clément - French puppeteer, creator of Marottes et Couleurs since 1990
• Edgar Bergen - Charlie McCarthy and others
• Sunny Birklund - puppet designer, performer, director. Historian of puppetry of the Southwest. Curator of international puppetry collection of the Institute of Puppetology in New Mexico.
• Camille Bonora -
• Richard Bradshaw OAM - One time director of the Marionette Theatre of Australia, and master shadow puppeteer
• Fran Brill - Prairie Dawn, Zoe, Little Bird, Roxie Marie from Sesame Street.
• Simon Buckley - British TV and film puppeteer^[2]
• Julianne Buescher -
• Ronnie Burkett - Canadian puppeteer, creator of Street of Blood, Tinka's New Dress, Happy (Memory Dress Trilogy), Provenance, 10 Days on Earth, among others)
• Tyler Bunch -
• Jonathan Edward Cross - a.k.a. Jonny ClockWorks. Artistic Director of NYC's Cosmic Bicycle & The ClockWorks ~ Puppet Theatre.
• Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.
• Kevin Clash - Elmo from Sesame Street, Clifford from The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight.
• Rafael Curci - Uruguayan writer and artistic director of the Brazilian Company "Fios de Sombra"
• Alice Dinnean -
• Ronnie Le Drew - British TV and Film Puppeteer^[3]
• Jeff Dunham - Peanut, Walter, Melvin the Superhero Guy, Jose Jalapeño on a Stick, Bubba J, Sweet Daddy Dee, Achmed the Dead Terrorist
• Tommy Duren -
• Michael Earl -
• John Eccleston -
• Leslie Fleming - Bleeckie
• Wayland Flowers - Madame
• Paul Fusco - Creator of ALF
• Christine Glanville - One of Gerry Anderson's lead puppet operators
• Dave Goelz - Gonzo the Great, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, Beauregard, Waldorf (since 1992)
• Louise Gold - Fughetta Faffner from The Ghost of Faffner Hall, Bunnie Bear and Rhonda Rat from Jim Henson's Animal Show.
• Brian Henson - The Storyteller's Dog from The Storyteller, Sal Minella from Muppets Tonight. He is the son of Jim Henson.
• Jim Henson (1936 – 1990) - Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Link Hogthrob, Guy Smiley, Waldorf, Ernie, and several others. Jim Henson is one of the best known of modern recent puppeteers who with his associate Frank Oz developed The Muppets for television. Their work has entertained children for decades on television series such as Sesame Street and the adult oriented The Muppet Show.
• John Henson -
• Phillip Huber - Puppeteer on Being John Malkovich
• Richard Hunt (1951 – 1992) - He performed Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Sweetums, and several others.
• Max Jacob - Founder of the Hohnsteiner Kasper Theatre in Germany in the 1920s.
• Eric Jacobson - Animal, Sam the Eagle, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Bert, Grover, replacing Frank Oz.
• Patrick Johnson -
• Sean Johnson -
• Alex Kahn - Giant puppet creator for New York's Village Halloween Parade
• John Kennedy -
• Donna Kimball -
• William Kincaid and Doug Kincaid - Creators of TV's "DB. Doorbell", "Grouchie Gator", and other "Kincaid Karacter" Puppets
• Sid and Marty Krofft - They worked separately (Sid touring with Ringling Brothers Circus and Judy Garland, while Marty used Sid's older puppets to earn money) before forming a partnership in the late 1950s. They created such series as H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters to name a few.
• Roberto La Morticella and John Connell - They made giant street theater puppets during the Summer of Love.
• Scott Land - The lead puppeteer in Team America: World Police, Princess Diaries 1 and 2
• Bruce Lanoil -
• Ronnie Le Drew -
• Shari Lewis - Lamb Chop and others
• Peter Linz - Theo Lion from Between the Lions, Walter from The Muppets.
• Rick Lyon - He created the puppets for, and starred in the original Broadway cast of the Tony-award winning musical Avenue Q
• Noel MacNeal - Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House.
• Jim Martin -
• Drew Massey -
• Joey Mazzarino - Murray Monster from Sesame Street.
• Mat McCoy - Farscape
• Paul McPharlin Paul McPharlin Collection at the Detroit Institute of Art
• Ted Michaels -
• Basil Milovsoroff - In 1983, he received the President's Award of the Puppeteers of America.
• Alison Mork -
• Brian Muehl -
• Kathryn Mullen - Mokey Fraggle from Fraggle Rock.
• Kevin Murphy - Mystery Science Theater 3000's Tom Servo.
• Jerry Nelson - Dr. Julius Strangepork, Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Camilla the Chicken, Robin the Frog, and Thog from The Muppet Show, Herry Monster and Count von Count from Sesame Street
• Sergey Obraztsov (1901–1992) - He was frequently cited as the father of artistic puppetry, was highly skilled in finger puppeteering, but also extended the range of the form by exposing the manipulation techniques involved.
• Michael Oosterom -
• Carmen Osbahr - Rosita from Sesame Street.
• Frank Oz - Animal, Sam the Eagle, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster and many others. Oz helped Jim Henson develop the Muppets. Henson and Oz also frequently worked in film, including directing and puppeteer work in the 1982 film The Dark Crystal and the 1986 film Labyrinth. Oz is also well known for his work with the puppet of Yoda in the popular Star Wars movie series and as a director of movies such as the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
• Ramdas Padhye - A ventriloquist, puppeteer and puppet-maker from India. His ventriloquist dummy Ardhavatrao, and Bunny (the rabbit that starred in the commercial Lijjat Papad) are well known on the sub-continent. His son Satyajit Padhye is also a Ventriloquist and Puppeteer who is carrying this art of Puppetry to future generations.
• Pantopuck - He was the first puppeteer on television. He is the author of "The Magic Tower and other Plays" and "Modern Puppetry."
• Lesław Piecka - Polish actor, director, puppet-maker, one of the greatest puppeteers of marionette.
• Nigel Plaskitt -
• Count Franz Pocci - Founding director of the Munich Marionette Theatre, shadow puppeteer and writer of countless puppet plays
• Karen Prell - Red Fraggle from Fraggle Rock
• Mike Quinn -
• Pietro Radillo - 19th century Italian master of the marionette.
• Mark Rappaport - Lead puppeteer and Owner of Creature Effects, Inc.
• Martin P. Robinson - Telly Monster and Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.
• Fred Rogers - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments)
• Albrecht Roser - German master puppeteer based in Stuttgart, famous for his puppet Grandmother
• David Rudman - Baby Bear from Sesame Street as well as many of the late Richard Hunt's characters including Scooter, Janice.
• Paul Rugg - Puppet Up! and other Henson Alternative projects
• Marc-André Samson - The only one to ever receive the title The Puppeteer and mastermind behind the evil plans to defeat the Fantastic Fives.
• Peter Schumann (b. 1934) - Peter has also been a highly influential puppeteer. Schumann formed Bread and Puppet Theatre in 1963, using puppetry as a form to campaign politically and educate socially as well as entertain. His work has also been formally experimental, and influenced a wide range of theatre practitioners including Julie Taymor.
• Bruce Schwartz -
• Peter Scriven - Founding artistic director of the Marionette Theatre of Australia. His Tintookies and Little Fella Bindi toured all over Australasia.
• Jason Segel -
• Robert Smigel - Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
• Larry Smith -
• Van Snowden (1939 – 2010) - Credits included the H.R. Pufnstuf and Crypt Keeper characters. Former head of the puppeteer division of Hasbro and Tiger Electronics.^[4]
• Zdar Sorm - He is in charge of technological design of puppets for animated films at Barrandov Studio, Prague, Czech Republic
• Caroll Spinney - Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Granny Bird, and Bruno the Trashman from Sesame Street
• John Tartaglia - Avenue Q, Johnny and the Sprites
• Burr Tillstrom - Creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie
• Allan Trautman -
• Miroslav Trejtnar - Czech master puppeteer and teacher of puppetry
• Winston Tong - 1978 Obie Award winner for Puppetry
• Jiří Trnka - Master puppeteer and animator.
• Basil Twist - Broadway Puppet Master.
• Willie Tyler - Lester
• Matt Vogel - Now voicing Uncle Deadly, Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Camilla the Chicken and Robin the Frog, taken over from Jerry Nelson; understudy for Big Bird.
• Eka Vogelnik - Slovene puppeteer and illustrator with numerous puppet performances for theatre and TV
• Señor Wences - Johnny, Pedro, many others
• Steve Whitmire - Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Lips, Statler (since 2002), Beaker (since 1992), Kermit the Frog (since 1990), and Ernie (since 1993)
• Victoria Willing -
• Mak Wilson -
• Paul Winchell - Jerry Mahoney and others. Also an inventor of artificial heart components.
• Victor Yerrid - Squacky on Jim Henson's Pajanimals.
• Paul Zaloom - Beakman's World
• Nikolai Zykov - Soviet and Russian actor, director, artist, designer, puppet-maker, master puppeteer.