Caroly Wilcox

Carolyn Wilcox (May 16, 1931 – January 9, 2021), known as Caroly Wilcox, was an American theatre professional, best known for her work with the Muppets, on television programs including Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock, and in The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and other films.

Caroly Wilcox
Caroly Wilcox, from Halcyon, the 1952 Swarthmore College yearbook
Born
Carolyn Wilcox

May 16, 1931
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
DiedJanuary 9, 2021 (aged 89)
OccupationPuppeteer, theatrical designer
Parent(s)Clair Wilcox (father)

Early life

Carolyn Wilcox was the younger daughter of Clair Wilcox and Florence Ruth Chapman Wilcox.[1] She was a birthright Quaker, as registered with the Swarthmore Monthly Meeting.[2] Her father was economics professor at Swarthmore College.[3] Her mother, a clubwoman and art teacher, died in 1954.[4] While at Swarthmore, Wilcox chaired the Swarthmore Folk Festival in 1949, with John Jacob Niles and Woody Guthrie as the featured performers,[5] and she designed the set for a theatrical production in 1951.[6] She graduated from Swarthmore in 1952; in the yearbook, Halcyon, the phrase "I left the n off on purpose... caroly" is printed with her picture.[7][8]

Career

Wilcox was a folk singer as a young woman, a member of a trio called The Samplers,[9] with whom she made a record (The Samplers In Person, 1961).[10] She appeared in the Broadway show The Next President in 1958, danced in a Brooklyn lecture-demonstration in 1963,[11] and worked on a Pickwick Puppet Theater production in Boston in 1970.[12]

Wilcox began working with the Muppets in 1969, and was director of the New York Muppet workshop.[13] She designed, built, and performed characters for Sesame Street,[14] including the Yip-Yips and an early version of Elmo, from its launch in 1969 until her retirement in 2012. She also worked on The Muppet Show (1976–1981), Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977), and Fraggle Rock (1983–1987), and Put Down the Duckie (1988). Her film credits included The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), and Follow That Bird (1985). She served on the board of directors of the Jim Henson Foundation.[15] Wilcox was part of the creative teams nominated for Emmy Awards in 1976[16] and 1980,[17] and the Sesame Street team that won a Daytime Emmy in 1990, for costume design.[18]

Wilcox taught puppetry workshops in the theatre program at New York University, and at other schools.[19] In 2020, Wilcox appeared with fellow Jim Henson colleagues Bonnie Erickson and Rollie Krewson in an online interview hosted by the Museum of the Moving Image.[20]

Personal life

Wilcox died in January 2021, aged 89 years.[21]

References
  1. "Theatre Club to Give Play at Swarthmore". Chester Times. December 5, 1951. p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  2. Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. via Ancestry.com, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line].
  3. "CLAIR WILCOX, 72, ECONOMIC ADVISER (Published 1971)". The New York Times. 1971-01-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  4. "Mrs. Wilcox Dies in Swarthmore". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1954-05-19. p. 39. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Smith, Ralph Lee (March 1997). "If I Had a Song..." (PDF). Swarthmore College Bulletin: 17.
  6. "Swarthmore College Presents Shaw Play". Delaware County Daily Times. 1951-03-17. p. 15. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Halcyon (yearbook). Swarthmore College. 1952. p. 59 – via Ancestry.com.
  8. "Alumnae Club Has Luncheon at Swarthmore". Delaware County Daily Times. 1951-02-19. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Thomas, Tommy (1961-03-18). "Luboff, Miller Keep Singing Along; Samplers Make Interesting Debut". The Times Record. p. 31. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. McLain, Louis (1961-04-30). "The Samplers in Person". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 140. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "City Briefs". Brooklyn Daily. 1963-01-04. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Steinberg, Michael (1970-11-07). "Puppet Theatre in 'Pulcinella'". The Boston Globe. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Jones, Brian Jay (2015-05-05). Jim Henson: The Biography. Ballantine Books. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-345-52612-0.
  14. Morrow, Robert W. (2008-12-08). "Sesame Street" and the Reform of Children's Television. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-0710-4.
  15. "Board and Staff". The Jim Henson Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  16. Brown, James (1976-05-17). "Creative Arts Emmys; 'Eleanor and Franklin' Tops List". The Los Angeles Times. p. 55. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Outstanding Achievement In Any Area Of Creative Technical Crafts Nominees / Winners 1980". Television Academy. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  18. King, Susan (1990-06-29). "'Santa Barbara', Two Latino Stars Top Daytime Emmy List". The Los Angeles Times. p. 132. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Poly Organizes Annual Festival of Puppeteers". Times-Press-Recorder. 1976-12-29. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-01-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Crafting the Creatures and Characters of Jim Henson's World: A Talk with Bonnie Erickson, Caroly Wilcox, and Rollie Krewson". Museum of the Moving Image. May 2, 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  21. Hennes, Joe (January 9, 2021). "RIP Muppet Designer Caroly Wilcox". Tough Pigs. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
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