Bill Barretta



Bill Barretta has been performing with the Jim Henson Company since 1991 and has become one of the leading Muppet performers.

Originally from Yardley, Pennsylvania, Barretta was trained at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City as an actor and has appeared in the feature films Murder in the First and Born to Be Wild. He also worked as a carpenter before joining Henson. He met Brian Henson while they were both working at Sesame Place, and the younger Henson encouraged him to join the company.

His first break came performing the body of Earl Sinclair on  Dinosaurs. From suit performance, Barretta transitioned to assisting and supporting roles in The Animal Show, playing multiple small character roles in Muppet Classic Theater and Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, and made his film debut as a principal performer playing Clueless Morgan in Muppet Treasure Island. He later developed several new characters on Muppets Tonight, including Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama and Bobo the Bear.

Along with having his own Muppet characters, Barretta has taken over several of Jim Henson's roles, such as Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Mahna Mahna and the Swedish Chef and has now taken over Jerry Nelson's role of Lew Zealand. Most recently, he has also taken on the role of Louie, Elmo's dad, in Sesame Beginnings.

In addition, Barretta has served as a producer for the Muppets' last two television movies, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, and co-wrote the screenplay of the Creature Shop film Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (appearing on camera as Thunderdell).

Barretta directed a test pilot for the America's Next Muppet pitch and directed another presentation pilot featuring the Muppet in mock documentary style, focusing on the Muppets' efforts to launch a network television series. The second presentation pilot was written and produced by Bill Prady and featured puppetry by Barretta, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson.

Puppeteer Credits

 * Muppets Characters: Bobo the Bear, Johnny Fiama, Pepe the King Prawn, Dr. Teeth (2005), one of the Elvises, Lew Zealand (2002-), Mahna Mahna (2001-), Rowlf the Dog (1996-), The Swedish Chef (1996-)
 * Dinosaurs: Earl Sinclair (body)
 * The Animal Show: Armstrong, Bubba the Walrus, Dave the Human, Jake (right hand), various guest animals
 * Muppet Treasure Island: Clueless Morgan, Blind Pew (hands)
 * Muppets Tonight: The AL-1995 Plus Tax, Baby George, Big Mean Carl, Carla the Big Mean Mom, David Hoggselhoff, Dr. Phil Van Neuter (hands only)
 * The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: Uncle Berklummer
 * Muppets from Space: Bubba
 * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Additional performer
 * Kermit's Swamp Years: Croaker, Horace D' Fly
 * Sesame Beginnings: Louie
 * Late Night Buffet: Delbert Kastle
 * Tinseltown: Bobby Vegan
 * Studio DC: Almost Live!

Production credits

 * Dinosaurs, "A New Leaf"- choreographer, with Leif Tilden, of "It's a Most Unusual Day"
 * Long John Silver's commercials - director
 * The Muppet Show Live - stage director
 * Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story - co-writer
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie- producer
 * Muppets' Wizard of Oz- producer
 * Tinseltown- executive producer, writer, director

Trivia

 * Attended St. Mary's Hall in Burlington, New Jersey
 * In addition to his puppeteering, Barretta has provided several episodic character voices on the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible.
 * Is the brother of Gene Barretta