Michael Earl

Michael Earl Davis (known as Michael Earl) is a puppeteer who has performed in many Muppet and non-Muppet productions.

Credits

 * Sesame Street - Puppeteer and voices of Mr. Snuffleupagus, Forgetful Jones, Slimey the Worm, Poco Loco, Honkers, Polly Darton and many other Anything Muppets for three seasons (1978-80)
 * Team America: World Police - Lead Terrorists
 * Men in Black II - Puppet Alien
 * Shrek - Motion capture Shrek body suit
 * The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth - Ms. Flossy
 * Geo Kids - Remote Control Puppeteer
 * Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? - 5 Lead Voices
 * Dinosaurs - Refrigerator Monster
 * The Rory Story - Buster Chops
 * Pat the Bunny
 * The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth - Ms. Flossy
 * Ticktock Minutes[] - Dr. Ticktock
 * Sesame Street: Sing Yourself Silly! - Various Muppets
 * Sesame Songs: Rock & Roll - Various Muppets
 * Sesame Street: Learning About Numbers - Various Muppets
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years - Muppet Performer
 * The Jim Henson Hour - (Pilot) Additional Muppet Performer
 * Muppet Wildlife PSA’s - Muppet Penguin
 * Little Muppet Monsters - Muppet Penguin
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan - Additional Muppet Performer
 * Mr. Mom - Mr. Snuffleupagus (Archive footage on TV)
 * Simon - Commune Member
 * John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together - Muppet Performer
 * The Dark Crystal - Additional Muppet Performer (Puppet Test)
 * The Muppet Movie - Aditional Muppet Performer, operating Fozzie Bear, Dr. Teeth, Animal, Janice, Zoot, Scooter, Beaker and others when lead muppeteer was performing another one of their characters in the same scene.
 * Theodore Rex - The Reverend
 * Funnybones - Dr. Ticktock
 * GeoScout - Dr. Ticktock
 * Rock Along with Bo Peep - Fleeter the Mouse
 * Media Mania - Mortimer Monster
 * Life on Earth - Alien, MTV Music Video
 * Digimon Tamers - Mr. Akiyama - Voice
 * Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? - Ira Gation (voice)
 * Fandango - Various paper bag puppets for movie theatre spots

BIO
Michael Earl has been secretly entertaining millions of people for three decades. A four-time Emmy Award-winner and Jim Henson Protege, Michael performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks, and puppeteered lead characters in Paramount Pictures' "Team America" - the all-marionette feature written and directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park.” He is the co-creator, writer, lyricist and puppet star of PBS' "Ticktock Minutes" - winner of 12 Emmy Awards, two Parents' Choice Awards and numerous other honors.

Michael Earl (Davis) grew up in San Leandro and Livermore, CA. He began his professional career at age five acting in a Curad bandaid TV commercial. Two years later he was tapped to be the original "Is It Soup Yet?" kid for Lipton. The spot ran for three years, the first in a series of wildly popular commercials that over the next decade became one of the most successful ad campaigns in history. He performed original puppet shows from ages 10-17 and once a year attended Puppeteers of America festivals. On weekends during his high school years, Michael was an apprectice at Children's Fairyland Puppet Theater in Oakland, CA, where Frank Oz's father (Mike Oznowicz) sometimes visited. At 17 he attended a puppetry festival where he met Kermit Love who talked to Jim Henson (as did Oznowicz) about the earnest young puppeteer. At 18 he moved to NYC and acted in some TV commercials, as well as landing a puppeteering job working for his childhood idol, Bil Baird.

At 19, Michael was hired sight-upseen by Jim Henson for The Muppet Movie and subsequently won the role of Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street (replacing Jerry Nelson, the originator, 1978-80 (three seasons as Mike Davis). The 1978 season he lip-syced to Jerry's voice, who sat in the director's booth and read the lines live. After auditioning every voice actor in New York, CTW producers awarded Michael the voice part of job as well and Snuffy was officially his character for the next two seasons. Bringing up the "rear" during those years were Brian Muehl, Frank Kane and Bryant Young. 20-year-old Karen Prell came on board as Deena Monster, as did a new 19-year-old puppeteer Kermit Love found in Maryland named Kevin Clash, who debuted as Forgetful Jones' horse named Buster.) During the 1978-79 seasons of Sesame Street, Michael, Brian Muehl (and Caroll Spinney) performed most of the day-to-day puppetry while the other Henson muppeteers were working in London on The Muppet Show. Michael and Brian were invited to writer's meetings so the writer's could create characters to their strengths. Out of those meetings emerged Forgetful Jones and Clementine, as well as the Honkers. Michael took over the roles of Slimey, Poco Loco and Snuffy from Jerry Nelson, and created the roles of Polly Darton, Leslie Mostly and dozens of Anything Muppets. His other Muppet credits include The Muppets Take Manhattan, John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together, Little Muppet Monsters, The Jim Henson Hour, The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years and Dinosaurs. Michael also appeared (as a puppet Alien) opposite Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men In Black II.

In 1979, Michael and Brian Muehl were invited by Jim Henson to workshop body combinations (along with two dancers) for The Dark Crystal, with Brian Froud observing their many workshop sessions and sketching "skins" over the dancer/puppeteer movements and forms as part of the development process for the film.

A New York-trained actor/singer/dancer, he has appeared in and/or sung on numerous television commercials (M&M's, Pepsi, Crest, Kit Kat, Planter's, Fandango, etc...), movies, stage and TV shows. He has acted with Whoopi Goldberg, danced with Gregory Hines and clowned with Victor Borge. For the Broadway stage, Michael created the role of Noel Petard in Sid and Marty Krofft's critically acclaimed "A Broadway Baby." His other stage work includes Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors ("You'll marvel at Earl's skill!" - LA Times) and his 1998 biographical musical one-man show "Pure Imagination!," which he wrote and performed in Los Angeles and New York to much acclaim.

Michael is a seven-time Emmy nominee and in 1995, won his first Emmy Award for his performance as Dr. Ticktock in Ticktock Minutes produced by Mississippi Educational Television. In subsequent years he was awarded three more Southern Regional Emmys for his lyric writing (in collaboration with composer Randy Klein) on the PBS interstitials, which are currently distributed on CD and DVD by BMG Music.

Earl met Drew Massey (a fellow Livermore native) when Drew was 7 years old, teaching him puppet making at his school. Years later, after reconnecting through Drew's mother in a local supermarket, Michael recognized Massey's innate talent and mentored him while Drew was in college, giving him his first few puppeteering jobs and introducing him to the Muppets. Michael has coached many of today's most successful TV and film puppeteers, including Camille Bonora, Brian Muehl, Kevin Carlson, James Murray and Sean Johnson. He has served as a puppetry consultant to such entertainment companies as MCA/Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney, working one-on-one with the Vice President of Disneyland Entertainment to conceive, develop and write puppet- and non-puppet live events. He has toured the U.S. giving concerts for children and their families, combining his talents as a singer, songwriter and puppeteer.

In 1997 he created, wrote, co-produced and performed five educational puppet videos for City of Hope National Medical Center which are currently being used by pediatric nurses to help prepare young cancer patients for treatment. Over the years, he has worked one-on-one with countless children and adults, teaching them puppet making and performance through such organizations as the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Mark Taper Forum/Music Center, California Youth Theatre, L.A.'s Best, Puppeteers of America, L.A. Inner City Arts, Beverly Hills Parks & Recreation, The Sycamores, L.A. Unified School District, Art Share L.A., Hollywood Arts Council and the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission.

In 2002, Michael created the "Puppet Power!" program through California Youth Theatre, where he taught, built, directed and produced the first annual Ivar Puppet Festival, involving 150 L.A. Unified School District teens from two different high schools building dozens of giant 15-foot puppets they performed at the Ivar Theatre in Hollywood. The event was a sold-out success and covered by the L.A. Times and the L.A. Daily News. He did it all again the following year with Belmont High School to equal success.

Michael Earl lives in Los Angeles, California, where he continues to encourage, instruct and strengthen children of all ages through the imaginative use of music and puppetry.''

Trivia

 * During his time on Sesame Street, he was an understudy for Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, but never actually performed the bird on Sesame Street. However, he did puppeteer Big Bird in the finale of The Muppet Movie. He did not perform Big Bird's voice.