Dr. Teeth

Dr. Teeth is the leader of The Electric Mayhem, the house band on The Muppet Show. Originally performed by Jim Henson, Dr. Teeth plays the keyboard and is also lead singer of the band. He first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, and had a prominent role in Muppet productions until Henson's death in 1990.

Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw. He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard.

Dr. Teeth has been less involved in recent Muppet productions due to Jim Henson's death. After being performed by John Kennedy, the role of Dr Teeth has been taken over by Bill Barretta.

He has also appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. In A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, he spoke several small lines

Trivia

 * Dr. Teeth's look was inspired by jazz keyboardist Dr. John. Henson's original sketch for the character appears in the book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles. Michael Frith then made a more refined, color sketch of the character, with the heading "Leon 'Doctor' Eltonjohn Dontshoot (the Piano Player)" -- adding the influence of Elton John (and possibly Leon Russell) to the character. Dr. Teeth's creative vocabulary is a direct nod to Dr. John. Dr. Teeth was built by Don Sahlin.
 * While Dr. Teeth usually has live hands, his hands were originally rod hands in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. The rod arms would occasionally be used on The Muppet Show. Also, the live hands version has five fingers on each hand, while the rod arm version has four on each hand.

Casting History

 * Jim Henson - from The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)


 * John Kennedy - Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses (1991), Muppet Treasure Island video game (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), Muppet Race Mania video game (2000), Muppet Party Cruise video game (2003)


 * Bill Barretta - Muppet Treasure Island (1996), The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), A Green and Red Christmas (2006), Studio DC: Almost Live (2008), A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008)


 * Victor Yerrid - Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony Episode 9 (2005)

Filmography

 * The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
 * Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things
 * The Mike Douglas Show
 * The Muppet Show
 * Episode 102: Connie Stevens (At the Dance)
 * Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Willkommen")
 * Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi ("Sunny")
 * Episode 106: Jim Nabors ("Money")
 * Episode 110: Harvey Korman ("Love Ya to Death," "Sweet Tooth Jam")
 * Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("A Nice Girl Like Me")
 * Episode 116: Avery Schreiber ("Tenderly")
 * Episode 118: Phyllis Diller ("Lazybones")
 * Episode 120: Valerie Harper (At the Dance)
 * Episode 123: Kaye Ballard
 * Episode 124: Mummenschanz ("Mr. Bassman")
 * Episode 201: Don Knotts ("Lullaby of Birdland")
 * Episode 202: Zero Mostel (Chopin's "Polonaise in A Flat")
 * Episode 208: Steve Martin
 * Episode 209: Madeline Kahn ("New York State of Mind")
 * Episode 211: Dom DeLuise ("Don't Blame the Dynamite")
 * Episode 213: Rudolf Nureyev (Boccherini's "Minuet in A Major")
 * Episode 214: Elton John ("Crocodile Rock," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart]]")
 * Episode 215: Lou Rawls (Talk Spot: "Bye Bye Blackbird," "You're the One")
 * Episode 216: Cleo Laine ("It Don't Mean a Thing")
 * Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan ("That Old Black Magic")
 * Episode 220: Petula Clark (At the Dance)
 * Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheesecake")
 * Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
 * Episode 302: Leo Sayer
 * Episode 305: Pearl Bailey
 * Episode 308: Loretta Lynn
 * Episode 311: Raquel Welch
 * Episode 315: Lesley Ann Warren ("Mack the Knife")
 * Episode 317: Spike Milligan ("America")
 * Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone ("Lady Be Good")
 * Episode 407: Dudley Moore ("Mama Don't Allow," "How High the Moon")
 * Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
 * Episode 415: Anne Murray ("Walk Right Back")
 * Episode 419: Lynda Carter ("I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends")
 * Episode 420: Alan Arkin
 * Episode 424: Diana Ross ("Last Time I Saw Him")
 * Episode 504: Shirley Bassey ("Barnyard Boogie")
 * Episode 505: James Coburn
 * Episode 506: Brooke Shields (as the Cheshire Cat: "When You're Smiling" Medley, "We're Off to See the Wizard")
 * Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal ("Rockin' Robin")
 * Episode 511: Paul Simon ("Loves Me Like a Rock")
 * Episode 513: Tony Randall ("Poison Ivy")
 * Episode 517: Hal Linden ("When the Saints Go Marching In")
 * Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring
 * The Muppet Movie
 * The Muppets Go Hollywood
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * I Love Liberty
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan
 * Rock Music with the Muppets
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * A Muppet Family Christmas
 * The Jim Henson Hour
 * Episode 108: Musicians
 * The Muppets at Walt Disney World
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol
 * Muppet Treasure Island
 * Muppets from Space
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
 * The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
 * "We Are Family" music video
 * CanTeen "Bandanana" commercial
 * Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony (Episode 9)
 * Studio DC: Almost Live!
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

Book appearances

 * The Muppet Show Book
 * It's The Muppet Show!
 * The Comic Muppet Book
 * Muppets at Sea
 * Jim Henson's Muppet Show Bill
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (Comic Book)
 * Cleopigtra
 * The Phantom of the Muppet Theater
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book