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==Early years==
==Early years==
Clash is African American.

Kevin Clash was born in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] on September 17, 1960, the third of four children born to George Clash, a [[Flash welding|flash welder]] and handyman, and Gladys Clash, who ran a small daycare center in their two-bedroom, one-bath home in the Baltimore suburb [[Turner's Station]].<ref>Clash, pp. 10–11</ref> Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, inspired by children's shows like ''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]'' and ''[[Sesame Street]]''. He made his first puppet, a version of [[Mickey Mouse]], at the age of 10.<ref>Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 3:41</ref> When he was twelve, he created a monkey puppet out of the lining of his father's coat.<ref>Clash, pp. 80–81</ref> His first performances were for his mother's daycare children.<ref>Marks, event occurs at 9:11</ref> By the time he was a teenager, he had built almost 90 puppets, which he based upon commercials, popular music, and his friends.<ref>Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 11:09</ref><ref>Clash, p. 68</ref> While still in high school, Clash performed at venues throughout Baltimore, including schools, churches, fundraisers, and community events.<ref>Clash, p. 3</ref> While appearing at a neighborhood festival, Clash was discovered by Baltimore television personality [[Stu Kerr]], who became Clash's first mentor and hired him to perform in the children's show ''[[Caboose]]'' at [[WMAR-TV|Channel 2]]. Clash also built puppets for the ''[[Romper Room]]'' franchise.<ref>Clash, p. 155</ref><ref>Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 9:19</ref><ref>Davis, p. 288</ref> When he was 17, he contacted and met [[puppeteer]] [[Kermit Love]], who became Clash's mentor, after seeing Love featured in an episode of the documentary ''Call It Macaroni''.<ref> Marks, event occurs at 17:55</ref><ref>Clash, pp. 68–70</ref> In 1979, on Love's recommendation, Clash appeared as [[Cookie Monster]] in the ''Sesame Street'' float during the [[Macy's Thanksgiving Parade]], and met [[Jim Henson]], who became his boss, mentor, and friend.<ref>Marks, event occurs at 30:26</ref><ref>Clash, pp. 71–75; p. 140</ref>
Kevin Clash was born in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] on September 17, 1960, the third of four children born to George Clash, a [[Flash welding|flash welder]] and handyman, and Gladys Clash, who ran a small daycare center in their two-bedroom, one-bath home in the Baltimore suburb [[Turner's Station]].<ref>Clash, pp. 10–11</ref> Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, inspired by children's shows like ''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]'' and ''[[Sesame Street]]''. He made his first puppet, a version of [[Mickey Mouse]], at the age of 10.<ref>Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 3:41</ref> When he was twelve, he created a monkey puppet out of the lining of his father's coat.<ref>Clash, pp. 80–81</ref> His first performances were for his mother's daycare children.<ref>Marks, event occurs at 9:11</ref> By the time he was a teenager, he had built almost 90 puppets, which he based upon commercials, popular music, and his friends.<ref>Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 11:09</ref><ref>Clash, p. 68</ref> While still in high school, Clash performed at venues throughout Baltimore, including schools, churches, fundraisers, and community events.<ref>Clash, p. 3</ref> While appearing at a neighborhood festival, Clash was discovered by Baltimore television personality [[Stu Kerr]], who became Clash's first mentor and hired him to perform in the children's show ''[[Caboose]]'' at [[WMAR-TV|Channel 2]]. Clash also built puppets for the ''[[Romper Room]]'' franchise.<ref>Clash, p. 155</ref><ref>Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 9:19</ref><ref>Davis, p. 288</ref> When he was 17, he contacted and met [[puppeteer]] [[Kermit Love]], who became Clash's mentor, after seeing Love featured in an episode of the documentary ''Call It Macaroni''.<ref> Marks, event occurs at 17:55</ref><ref>Clash, pp. 68–70</ref> In 1979, on Love's recommendation, Clash appeared as [[Cookie Monster]] in the ''Sesame Street'' float during the [[Macy's Thanksgiving Parade]], and met [[Jim Henson]], who became his boss, mentor, and friend.<ref>Marks, event occurs at 30:26</ref><ref>Clash, pp. 71–75; p. 140</ref>


Revision as of 01:39, 12 December 2012

Kevin Clash
File:Kevin Clash at National Book Festival CROP.jpg
Clash with Elmo at the 2006 National Book Festival
Born
Kevin Jeffrey Clash

(1960-09-17) September 17, 1960 (age 64)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other namesKevin Geoffrey Clash
Occupation(s)Actor, puppeteer, voice artist, comedian
Years active1981–present
Spousedivorced 2003
Childrenone daughter (born 1993)

Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters included Elmo, Clifford, and Hoots the Owl. Clash developed in an interest in puppetry at an early age, and began performing for local TV children's shows in his hometown of Baltimore by the time he was a teenager. In the early 1980s, he began working in Captain Kangaroo, and began performing in Sesame Street in 1984. He was the third puppeteer to perform Elmo, the character he became the most famous for, and became an executive producer and director for the show. Clash worked in various productions for the Muppets and Jim Henson Productions and in other projects. He resigned from Sesame Street in late 2012, after allegations of improper sexual conduct.

In 2006, Clash wrote an autobiography called My Life as a Furry Red Monster. He was featured in the documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey in 2011.

Early years

Clash is African American.

Kevin Clash was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 17, 1960, the third of four children born to George Clash, a flash welder and handyman, and Gladys Clash, who ran a small daycare center in their two-bedroom, one-bath home in the Baltimore suburb Turner's Station.[1] Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, inspired by children's shows like Kukla, Fran and Ollie and Sesame Street. He made his first puppet, a version of Mickey Mouse, at the age of 10.[2] When he was twelve, he created a monkey puppet out of the lining of his father's coat.[3] His first performances were for his mother's daycare children.[4] By the time he was a teenager, he had built almost 90 puppets, which he based upon commercials, popular music, and his friends.[5][6] While still in high school, Clash performed at venues throughout Baltimore, including schools, churches, fundraisers, and community events.[7] While appearing at a neighborhood festival, Clash was discovered by Baltimore television personality Stu Kerr, who became Clash's first mentor and hired him to perform in the children's show Caboose at Channel 2. Clash also built puppets for the Romper Room franchise.[8][9][10] When he was 17, he contacted and met puppeteer Kermit Love, who became Clash's mentor, after seeing Love featured in an episode of the documentary Call It Macaroni.[11][12] In 1979, on Love's recommendation, Clash appeared as Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and met Jim Henson, who became his boss, mentor, and friend.[13][14]

When he was nineteen, Clash became a puppeteer for Captain Kangaroo, initially as a guest performer, in which he also made occasional on-camera appearances. The producers of Captain Kangaroo used some of Clash's puppet creations for the show.[15][16] In 1984, Clash had to turn down Henson's offer to work on his film The Dark Crystal because he was working on two TV shows at the same time, Captain Kangaroo and Love's syndicated program The Great Space Coaster, in which he was producer for the first time.[17][18][19]

Career

In 1984, Captain Kangaroo was cancelled after 39 seasons, and Great Space Coaster ended, freeing up Clash to work on projects with Henson such as the film Labyrinth and Sesame Street.[20] He started working at Sesame Street for ten episodes in 1983, mostly performing Anything Muppets.[21][22] Some of his earliest characters included Hoots the Owl (based on Louis Armstrong),[23] Baby Natasha, and Dr. Nobel Price, but after 1985, Elmo became his main character.[24] Three puppeteers, including Richard Hunt, had performed Elmo puppet previously, but it was Clash's development, with a falsetto voice, that established the character.[25][26][27] He based Elmo's character on the preschool children that attended his mother's daycare in Baltimore and upon his own personality and the personality of his parents.[28][note 1]

After the height of Elmo's popularity, especially the "Tickle Me Elmo" craze in 1996, [30] Clash's responsibilities at Sesame Street increased, and he recruited, auditioned, and trained its puppeteers, and became a director and executive producer.[31] Clash worked and mentored the puppeteers of Sesame Street's international co-productions.[32] He found working with the co-productions "a lot of fun" and "very rewarding".[33] He worked on the 1985 feature film Follow That Bird.[29] In 2007, he was promoted to senior creative adviser for the Sesame Workshop.[34]

In 1990, Clash worked on the film version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[35] He performed in several productions with Jim Henson Productions, including as the Muppet Clifford in The Jim Henson Hour (1989),[note 2] and as Frank Oz's characters (Miss Piggy, Fozzy the Bear, Sam the Eagle, and Animal, in Muppet Treasure Island (1996).[37] Clash performed in the films Muppets from Space (1999) and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2004), and the short-lived TV series Muppets Tonight (1996—1998), in which he reprised Clifford, the show's host.[29] He performed characters and worked behind the scenes on the live-action TV series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Disney sitcom Dinosaurs.[38] In 1999, Clash worked on the first film that featured Elmo, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.[39]

In 2006, Clash wrote his autobiography, co-written by Gary Brozek and Louis Henry Mitchell, entitled My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud.[40] His life was featured in the 2011 documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.[41]

Resignation from Sesame Workshop

In November 2012, 23-year-old Sheldon Stephens alleged that he had been in a sexual relationship with Clash which began when Stephens was 16. Sesame Workshop had initially been presented with the allegation in June, and its investigation found the allegation to be unsubstantiated. Clash acknowledged that he had been in a relationship with the accuser; however, he characterized the relationship as being between consenting adults.[40] Stephens later recanted his accusation, but two weeks later, Cecil Singleton and a third unnamed man made similar accusations and lawsuits were filed against Clash.[42]

Clash resigned from Sesame Workshop on November 20, 2012, and released a statement saying, "Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately."[42] Sesame Workshop also released a statement: "Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street."[42] They stated that other puppeteers had been trained to serve as Clash's understudy, and will take over his roles on the show.[43]

Personal life

Clash was married for 17 years, and had one daughter who was born in 1993.[44][45]

In November 2012, Clash came out publicly as gay in response to the allegations that led to his resignation from the Sesame Workshop, stating, "I am a gay man. I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter."[46]

Awards and honors

  • Clash won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work as Elmo on Sesame Street in 1990 and 2005.[47] In all, he has won 23 daytime Emmys and one prime-time Emmy.[48]
  • He was the first recipient of the 'Miss Jean' Worthley Award for Service to Families and Children given by Maryland Public Television on June 9, 2007.[49]
  • On May 19, 2012, Clash was presented with an honorary degree from Washington & Jefferson College.[50]

Citations

  1. ^ Clash, pp. 10–11
  2. ^ Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 3:41
  3. ^ Clash, pp. 80–81
  4. ^ Marks, event occurs at 9:11
  5. ^ Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 11:09
  6. ^ Clash, p. 68
  7. ^ Clash, p. 3
  8. ^ Clash, p. 155
  9. ^ Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 9:19
  10. ^ Davis, p. 288
  11. ^ Marks, event occurs at 17:55
  12. ^ Clash, pp. 68–70
  13. ^ Marks, event occurs at 30:26
  14. ^ Clash, pp. 71–75; p. 140
  15. ^ Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 3:59
  16. ^ Clash, p. 158
  17. ^ Davis, pp. 290–291
  18. ^ Marks, event occurs at 37:43
  19. ^ Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 11:39
  20. ^ Marks, event occurs at 39:49
  21. ^ Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 18:46
  22. ^ Clash, p. 163
  23. ^ Clash, pp. 40–41
  24. ^ Clash, p. 46
  25. ^ Clash, p. 121
  26. ^ Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 24:26
  27. ^ Herman (Part 3), event occurs at 1:05
  28. ^ Marks, event occurs at 49:02
  29. ^ a b c "Kevin Clash". Muppet Wiki.com. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
  30. ^ Ramirez, Anthony (1996-12-08). "Waiting for Elmo". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  31. ^ Marks, event occurs at 58:52
  32. ^ Gikow, Louise A (2009). Sesame Street: A Celebration—Forty Years of Life on the Street. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-57912-638-4.
  33. ^ Herman (Part 4), event occurs at 3:08
  34. ^ "Workshop promotes Elmo". C21Media.com. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
  35. ^ Clash, p. 144
  36. ^ Davis, p. 2
  37. ^ Herman(Part 4), event occurs at 4:36
  38. ^ Herman (Part 4), event occurs at 12:02
  39. ^ Clash, p. 83
  40. ^ a b Moore, Frazier (2012-11-12). "Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash accused of relationship with boy, 16, taking leave from 'Sesame Street'". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  41. ^ Sragow, Michael (2011-11-13). "Kevin Clash shines in new documentary 'Being Elmo'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  42. ^ a b c Jensen, Elizabeth (2012-11-20). "Elmo Puppeteer Resigns After Fresh Allegation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-15. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ Moore, Frazier (2012-11-21). "Kevin Clash: Elmo left behind on 'Sesame Street' as actor exits". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  44. ^ Clash, p. 125
  45. ^ Macatee, Rebecca (2012-11-21). "Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Quits Sesame Street". E! Online. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  46. ^ Oldenburg, Ann (2012-11-12). "'Sesame Street' actor faces underage sex charges". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  47. ^ Clash, pp. 55–57; pp. 58–59
  48. ^ Moore, Frazier (2012-11-20). "Elmo actor resigns amid underage-sex allegations". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  49. ^ Hiaasen, Rob (2007-06-07). "A Natural Honor". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  50. ^ "Commencement Ceremony Celebrates Washington & Jefferson College's Class of 2012" (Press release). Washington, Pennsylvania: Washington & Jefferson College. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2012-05-22.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Since then, Clash has appeared, as Elmo, in innumerable videos, DVDs, appearances, and specials.[29]
  2. ^ Clash appeared as Clifford on The Arsenio Hall Show with Jim Henson, which became Henson's last televised appearance before his death in 1990.[36]

Works cited

  • Clash, Kevin, Gary Brozek, and Louis Henry Mitchell (2006). My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-7679-2375-8
  • Davis, Michael (2008). Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-01996-0
  • Herman, Karen (2004-07-20). Archive of American Television. Parts 1–4.
  • Marks, Constance (Director) (2011) (DVD). Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

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