Richard Hunt (puppeteer)
| Richard Hunt | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1951 The Bronx, New York, United States |
| Died | January 7, 1992 (aged 40) New York City, New York, United States |
| Cause of death | AIDS |
| Occupation | Puppeteer[1] |
Richard Hunt (August 16, 1951 - January 7, 1992) was an American puppeteer best known as a Muppet performer. Hunt's Muppet roles included Scooter, Beaker, Janice, Statler, and Sweetums.
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[edit] Early years
Hunt was born in The Bronx, New York City, the second of five children. The family eventually moved to Closter, New Jersey some years later.
Because everyone in his family had worked in show business at some point, Hunt always felt he would end up in entertainment as well. While in middle school and high school, he put on puppet shows for local children, and he was a fan of the then-fledgling Muppets from a young age. After high school graduation and a four-month stint of doing weather reports at a local radio station, Hunt pursued a meeting with Jim Henson.[2]
[edit] Career
After being hired to work on Sesame Street, Hunt mostly performed background characters in early specials. One of his first major performances was as Taminella Grinderfall in The Frog Prince, puppeteering the character while Jerry Juhl performed the voice.[3]
He also did Scooter and shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until the final quarter of the first season of The Muppet Show. Hunt performed many characters on Sesame Street, including Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, Sully, an early Elmo. On Fraggle Rock, Hunt's main role was the performing the facial expressions and voice of Junior Gorg, but he also performed Gunge (one of the Trash Heap's barkers), and several one-shot or minor characters.
He has also directed several home videos such as Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along and Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game as well as an episode of Fraggle Rock.
[edit] Personal Life
Hunt was openly gay.[4] When Rudolf Nureyev made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show, Nureyev rather bluntly hit on Hunt.[5] Hunt died of AIDS-related complications[1] on January 7, 1992. Episode 3136 of Sesame Street and the film The Muppet Christmas Carol were dedicated to his memory.
[edit] References
- ^ "Richard Hunt; Puppeteer for "Sesame Street," "Muppet Show"". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-11/news/mn-1356_1_sesame-street. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ Finch, Christopher (1993), Jim Henson: The Works, Random House, ISBN 0679412034
- ^ Ask Henson, question 60, archived from [henson.com the original] on 3 October 2000, http://web.archive.org/web/20001003125242/www.henson.com/ask/ask_archives_body.html
- ^ {{citation |title=The Rainbow Connection: Richard Hunt, Gay Muppeteer |first=Jessica Max |last=Stein |year=2011 |archiveurl=http://www.bilerico.com/2011/03/the_rainbow_connection_richard_hunt_gay_muppeteer.php#more
- ^ Kaiser, Charles (1997), The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America, Grove Press, ISBN 9780395657812, http://books.google.com/books?id=HO7IKU79zgAC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=richard+hunt+gay&source=bl&ots=WUPHQKY4t2&sig=N_ZEXvT0XK8_1_SJPA17YjHbzeI&hl=en&ei=jR2OTti6OofBtgfVm_miDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=richard%20hunt%20gay&f=false
[edit] External links
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