Eric Jacobson

Eric Jacobson (born January 15, 1971)^[1] is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle, as well as Sesame Street characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Guy Smiley and the left head of the Two-Headed Monster.^[2][3]

Early life

Eric Jacobson was born on January 15, 1971, in Fort Worth, Texas.^[1] He was inspired to enter the field of puppetry after the death of Jim Henson.^[1][4] In 1992, while attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he interned at the Jim Henson Company, working in the archival library.^[2][4][5] He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree the following year.

Career

Jacobson began his career as a supporting puppeteer on Sesame Street in 1994, occasionally performing the roles of Grover and Bert when Frank Oz wasn't available.^[6][7][8] Following Oz's retirement from the program, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer.^[9] Since 2005, he has performed Guy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson.^[10] Following Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018, he became the full-time performer of Oscar the Grouch.^[3] For his work on the program, he has received Daytime Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2011 and 2019, respectively.^[7][11]

Jacobson began performing Miss Piggy in 2001, debuting at the MuppetFest fan convention.^[12] The following year, he began performing Fozzie Bear and Animal, debuting in the roles in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. In 2005, he began performing Sam Eagle beginning with The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. The aforementioned characters were also previously performed by Oz, whom he consulted with to accurately maintain characterization and physicality for the characters.^[8]

Jacobson has contributed to several other children's television shows, including The Puzzle Place and Jack's Big Music Show. He has performed live puppet theater with Basil Twist, The Puppet Company, The Cosmic Bicycle Theater, and The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park.^[13] He performed Harry the Duck on Bear in the Big Blue House and puppeteered Piglet on The Book of Pooh.^[13] In 2007, he served as both a puppeteer and writer on Playhouse Disney's Bunnytown.^[14][15]

Personal life

Jacobson is married to Mary Jacobson. The two met during her time as a production assistant on Sesame Street.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "Eric Jacobson and Muppet Trivia 2! | The Barretta Brothers". 2024-06-24. Archived June 24, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
2. ^ Setoodeh, Ramin (March 11, 2014). "How Kermit and the Muppets Got Their Mojo Back". Variety. Archived May 6, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
3. ^ Cordero, Rosy (December 8, 2019). "Sesame Street legend Caroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, dies at 85". Entertainment Weekly. Archived June 2, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
4. ^ "A Conversation with characters from Sesame Street live from NerdHQ 2014". YouTube.com. Nerd HQ. July 26, 2014. Archived 2021-12-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
5. ^ Gikow, Louise & Loredo, Betsy (2009). 123 Sesame Street: a celebration: 40 years of life on the street. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57912-638-4.
6. ^ "Muppet Central Help - Frequently Asked Questions - Muppets". 2003-12-08. Archived December 8, 2003 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
7. ^ Schaffstall, Katherine (August 30, 2019). "Emmys: 46 of This Year's First-Time Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived July 10, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
8. ^ Spitznagel, Eric (September 30, 2011). "Sesame Street puppeteer Eric Jacobson reveals shocking news that Sesame Street is not a real place". Vanity Fair. Archived September 24, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
9. ^ Spitznagel, Eric (September 30, 2011). "Sesame Street puppeteer Eric Jacobson reveals shocking news that Sesame Street is not a real place". Vanity Fair. Archived September 24, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
10. ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 17, 2018). "Caroll Spinney, 'Sesame Street's Big Bird For 50 Years, Is Retiring". Deadline Hollywood. Archived November 11, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
11. ^ "Sesame Street's Big Bird puppeteer retires". bbc.com. October 17, 2018. Archived November 12, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
12. ^ Lloyd, Robert (May 16, 2015). "If Harry Shearer leaves 'The Simpsons,' what will happen? Just ask Bugs Bunny". Los Angeles Times. Archived May 7, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
13. ^ "Disney Channel MediaNet". 2008-09-26. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
14. ^ "Bunnytown". Broadcast. 2007-11-01. Archived August 6, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
15. ^ Emily, Wicks (2021-09-22). "Spiffy Pictures: Adventures in Television Animation | Ballard Institute and Museum". Archived July 2, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
16. ^ Adams, Erik (May 19, 2020). "The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo is the next best thing to a streaming Muppet Show". The AV Club. Archived June 1, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
17. ^ Porter, Rick (2023-11-21). "'Muppets Mayhem' Canceled at Disney+". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived December 18, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
18. ^ "Sesame Street Sports (2001)". MobyGames. Archived July 2, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
19. ^ "Muppet Central Articles - Reviews: Muppets Party Cruise (PlayStation2)". muppetcentral.com. Archived July 2, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
20. ^ "Eric Jacobson (visual voices guide)" (A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information). Behind The Voice Actors
21. ^ Graser, Marc (December 6, 2013). "Watch: The Muppets Star in New Series of 'Muppisodes'". Variety. Archived December 10, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
22. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9qqKaYz4bk
23. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (July 28, 2020). "It's Time to Re-Re-Re-Meet the Muppets". The New York Times. Archived July 10, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
24. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (July 28, 2020). "It's Time to Re-Re-Re-Meet the Muppets". The New York Times. Archived July 10, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
25. ^ "They're not just animated anymore! See the new Muppet Babies as actual Muppets". EW.com. Archived October 15, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
26. ^ Ace, Shannen (May 14, 2024). "PHOTOS, VIDEO: New 'World of Color Happiness!' with Muppets Pre-Show at Disney California Adventure". wdwnt.com. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
27. ^ Coates, Tyler (November 2, 2023). "Children's & Family Emmy Awards: Disney Dominates Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived November 6, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

External links

• Eric Jacobson at IMDb