Richard Hunt (puppeteer)

Richard Hunt (August 17, 1951 – January 7, 1992) was an American puppeteer, best known as a Muppet performer on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and other projects for The Jim Henson Company.[1] His roles on The Muppet Show included Scooter, Statler, Janice, Beaker and Sweetums.[2][3]

Richard Hunt
Born	August 17, 1951 The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	January 7, 1992 (aged 40) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	1969–1992
Notable work	The Muppets Sesame Street

Early life

Hunt was born in The Bronx, New York City,[3] The family eventually moved to Closter, New Jersey some years later.[4]

Hunt came from a family of performers.[2] As a student in middle school and high school, he put on puppet shows for local children, and was a fan of the then-fledgling Muppets.[2] After high school graduation, and a four-month stint of doing weather reports at a local radio station, Hunt pursued a meeting with Jim Henson.[5] He cold-called from a payphone and was invited to audition.[4][6]

Career

After being hired to work on Sesame Street, Hunt mostly performed background characters.[6] One of his first major performances was as Taminella Grinderfall in The Frog Prince, physically performing the character while Jerry Juhl portrayed the voice.[7] Hunt performed Scooter and shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until the final quarter of the first season of The Muppet Show.

His characters on Sesame Street included Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, and Sully; Hunt also briefly performed Elmo before Kevin Clash was cast in that role.[6] On Fraggle Rock, Hunt's main role was the performing the facial expressions and voice of Junior Gorg; he also performed Gunge (one of the Trash Heap's barkers) as well as several one-shot or minor characters.

Hunt also worked as a director of several home video releases such as Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along and Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game, as well as an episode of Fraggle Rock.[6] Hunt was close friends with fellow puppeteer Jerry Nelson.[8] Several of their characters were paired, such as Nelson's Floyd Pepper with Hunt's Janice; the Two-Headed Monster; and Nelson's Pa Gorg to Hunt's Junior Gorg on Fraggle Rock.[8]

Personal life

Hunt was openly gay.[6][9] When Rudolf Nureyev, also openly gay, made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show, Nureyev bluntly flirted with Hunt.[9] Mark Hamill was close friends with Hunt, as he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in November 2003.[10]

Death and legacy

On January 7, 1992, Hunt died of HIV/AIDS related complications at Cabrini Hospice in Manhattan, aged 40.[1][3] He was cremated, and some of his ashes were sprinkled over the flower beds at the Hunt Family home in Closter, New Jersey.[11] The Muppet Christmas Carol was dedicated to his memory.

Following Hunt's death, the roles of Scooter and Janice were recast to David Rudman. The roles of Beaker and Statler, likewise, were recast to Steve Whitmire and Jerry Nelson, respectively, with Whitmire later cast as Statler as well. John Henson was cast as Sweetums shortly prior to Hunt's death, having initially been trained by Hunt for physical performances in the attraction Muppet*Vision 3D, before Matt Vogel was cast in the role in 2009.

On Sesame Street, Hunt's roles of Sully, Sonny Friendly, and the right head of the Two-Headed Monster were also recast to Rudman until the former two were eventually retired, while the role of Gladys the Cow was recast to Jennifer Barnhart.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1977	Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas	Charlie Muskrat, Fred Lizard, George Rabbit	Puppeteer/voice
1979	The Muppet Movie	Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1981	The Great Muppet Caper	Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets	Puppeeter/voice
1983	Trading Places	Wilson
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1984	Oxford Blues	Larry
1985	Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird	Gladys the Cow, Turkey, Elmo	Puppeteer/voice
1986	The Christmas Toy	Belmont	Puppeteer/voice
1987	A Muppet Family Christmas	Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Gladys the Cow, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1990	The Muppets at Walt Disney World	Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Statler, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1990	The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson	Scooter, Janice	Puppeteer/voice
1990	Basil Hears a Noise	Two-Headed Monster, Dip Cat, Kathleen the Cow	Puppeteer/voice
1991	Muppet*Vision 3D	Scooter, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice; Theme park attraction

Television
Years	Title	Role	Notes
1972–1992	Sesame Street	Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Sully, Gladys the Cow, Two-Headed Monster, Forgetful Jones, Sonny Friendly, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1976–1981	The Muppet Show	Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1983–1987	Fraggle Rock	Gunge, Junior Gorg, Beige Fraggle, Firechief Fraggle, Flex Doozer, Turbo Doozer, Gillis Fraggle, Lambo, Herkimer Fraggle, Mean Genie, Mudwell the Mudbunny, The Odd Old Man, The Wizard, The Bandit Fraggle, Additional Muppets	Puppeteer/voice
1985	Little Muppet Monsters	Tug Monster, Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Animated Muppet Shorts Narrator	Puppeteer/voice
1990	The Cosby Show	Statler, Disagreeable Sandwich, Boppity	Puppeteer/voice
1991–1992	The New Adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine	James the Red Engine	Voice 52 episodes Final role

References

1. "Richard Hunt; Puppeteer for 'Sesame Street,' 'Muppet Show'". Los Angeles Times. 11 January 1992. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
2. Finch, Christopher (1981). Of Muppets and Men: The Making of the Muppet Show. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 79–85.
3. "Richard Hunt; Puppeteer, 40". The New York Times. 9 January 1992. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
4. Stein, Jessica Max. "A Chat with Richard Hunt's Mother". Tough Pigs: Muppet Fans Who Grew Up. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
5. Finch, Christopher (1993), Jim Henson: The Works, Random House, p. 58, ISBN 0-679-41203-4
6. Stein, Jessica Max (17 March 2011). "The Rainbow Connection: Richard Hunt, Gay Muppeteer". The Bilerico Project. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
7. "Ask Henson, question 60". Archived from the original on 3 October 2000.
8. Soberman, Matthew (26 June 2014). "Great Muppeteer Duos: Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt". Tough Pigs: Muppet Fans Who Grew Up. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
9. Kaiser, Charles (1997). The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. Grove Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-395-65781-2.
10. "Mark Hamill Chat Transcript". The Bothan Spy. 7 November 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
11. "Richard Hunt (1951-1992)". Find a Grave.

External links

• Richard Hunt at IMDb
• Richard Hunt at the TCM Movie Database
• Muppet Central's Tribute to Richard Hunt

{{succession box | before = None | title = Don Music | years= 1974 | after= [[Ryan Dillon]}} |}