Sweetums is a very large, imposing and hairy Muppet of about eight feet. Despite appearing menacing, he is often depicted as friendly and harmless.

Sweetums has very thick blondish-brown hair all over his body. He has a very large lower jaw, similar to a bulldog, which juts out, revealing two pointy teeth. He has thick, brown eyebrows over his large yellow eyes, and large nose. He often wears a shabby, burlap-like brown shirt. Many are fooled by his menacing appearance, but he is very nice and humble, hence his name, "Sweetums".

Sweetums first appeared on the television special The Frog Prince in 1971 as a witch's ogre. There he tried to eat the hero, played by Kermit's nephew Robin. He later performed a duet with Robin and the two appeared together on merchandise as best friends.

During his first appearance, Sweetums was performed by Muppeteer Jerry Nelson and voiced by voice veteran Carl Banas, but soon after, Richard Hunt made the character his own. Hunt gave life to Sweetums throughout the run of The Muppet Show and the first two Muppet movies. During the making of Muppet*Vision 3D, when Hunt's health deteriorated, Muppet creator Jim Henson's son, John Henson, did the puppetry, while Hunt did the voice. After Hunt died, Henson eventually took over both voice and puppetry.

Ruth Ann Buzzi (born July 24, 1936) is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.

Buzzi was born at Westerly Hospital, Westerly, Rhode Island, the daughter of Rena Pauline and Angelo Peter Buzzi, a nationally recognized stone sculptor. She was raised in Wequetequock, Connecticut, in a rock house overlooking the ocean at Wequeteqouck Cove, where her father owned Buzzi Memorials, a business still operated by her older brother, Harold. Her father was born in Arzo, Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of the Ticino, a few miles from the Italian border. He carved the marble eagles at Penn Station in New York designed by artist Adolph A. Weinman (who also designed the Standing Liberty Eagle half dollar for the U.S. Mint), the granite Leif Erikson memorial in Providence, Rhode Island, the animals seen in relief on the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and made thousands of tombstones. He was asked to work on the carving of the Presidents on Mount Rushmore but declined, out of a fear of heights. Her mother was born in the United States to immigrants from northern Italy.

Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic performances in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.

Price was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Marguerite Cobb (née Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, Sr., who was the president of the National Candy Company. His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder," the first cream of tartar baking powder, and secured the family's fortune.

Price attended St. Louis Country Day School. He was further educated at Yale in art history and fine art. He was a member of the Courtauld Institute, London. He became interested in the theatre during the 1930s, appearing professionally on stage for the first time in 1935.

He made his film debut in 1938 with Service de Luxe and established himself in the film Laura (1944), opposite Gene Tierney, directed by Otto Preminger. He also played Joseph Smith, Jr. in the movie Brigham Young (1940) and William Gibbs McAdoo in Wilson (1944) as well as a pretentious priest in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944).