Kevin Clash

Kevin Clash (b. September 17, 1960)

Kevin Clash, whose characters include Elmo, Clifford and Hoots the Owl is an accomplished puppeteer. He currently serves as Sesame Street's Muppet Captain and co-executive producer. He began building puppets at the age of ten and performed on Baltimore's Harbor Front as a teenager. Clash's first television work was for a CBS affiliate in Baltimore. He came to The Muppets and Sesame Street after attracting the attention of Muppet designer Kermit Love. Clash's film credits include Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. His television work includes The Great Space Coaster, Captain Kangaroo, The Jim Henson Hour, Dog City, Dinosaurs, and Muppets Tonight.

Kevin's only lasting Muppet character, outside of "Sesame Street", is Clifford, a hip humanoid Muppet, who first appeared on "The Jim Henson Hour." Clifford's most prominent role to date was his job as host of "Muppets Tonight".

Clash was co-executive producer for Elmopalooza, co-producer for The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and co-executive producer for CinderElmo and "Elmo's World". He has also served as either puppet coordinator, assistant puppet coordinator, or puppet captain on many productions, including Labyrinth, Muppet Treasure Island, and Dog City.

In 2005 Kevin signed a deal to write an autobiography titled What Elmo Taught Me, set to release in the fall of 2006.

Official bio
from sesameworkshop.org:

Kevin Clash, whose characters include Elmo, Hoots the Owl and Baby Natasha, is Sesame Street's Muppet Captain. He began building puppets at the age of ten and performed on Baltimore's Harbor Front as a teenager. Clash's first television work was for the CBS affiliate in Baltimore. He came to Sesame Street after attracting the attention of Muppet designer Kermit Love. Clash's film credits include Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I and II, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, and Elmo in Grouchland. His television work includes The Great Space Coaster, Captain Kangaroo, The Jim Henson Hour, Jim Henson's Dog City, Dinosaurs and Muppets Tonight. He also was Co-Executive Producer for Elmopalooza, Co-Producer for The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and Co-Executive Producer for CinderElmo and Elmo's World. Clash won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work as Elmo and Hoots the Owl in Season 21, and in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 for his work as Co-Executive Producer for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series.

Puppeteer Credits

 * Muppet Characters: Clifford, Leon, Mulch, Polly Lobster, Real Old Tom, Spa'am, Sam the Eagle (in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie)


 * Sesame Characters: Elmo, Benny Rabbit, Hoots the Owl, Kingston Livingston III, Mel, Natasha, Wolfgang the Seal, Ferlinghetti Donizetti, The Duck


 * Dinosaurs: Baby Sinclair, Howlin' Jay, Dinosaur Chief (face), Ethyl (sometimes, puppetry only), Howard Handupme, Monster (face), Mr. Ashland (face), Pterodactyl (puppetry only)


 * Dog City (special): Ace Yu


 * Dog City (series): Eliot Shag


 * Labyrinth: Fiery 1, Ambrosius (puppetry only), One of The Four Guards (puppetry only)


 * Muppet Sing-A-Long: Billy Bunny's Animal Songs: Billy Bunny


 * The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Be-Bop, Father


 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splinter

Trivia

 * When Kevin was a child he built a puppet out of a piece of his father's coat lining without him knowing.
 * Although Richard Hunt and Brian Muehl both performed Elmo in the early years of Sesame Street, the character did not take off until Kevin started performing him in 1985.
 * Kevin performed Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Sam the Eagle on the set for most scenes of Muppet Treasure Island, basing his delivery on a tape recording of Frank Oz at a table reading. Frank later dubbed each character's part.

Awards & Honors

 * Kevin won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work as Elmo and Hoots the Owl on Sesame Street in 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.