Eric Jacobson

Eric Jacobson (b. July 25th, 1970), started working with the Muppets in 1994 as a puppeteer on Sesame Street & rose through the ranks of Sesame puppeteers. In order to keep the characters of Frank Oz - who is focusing more on directing & other pursuits - alive & visible, Jacobson was selected due to his strong puppeteer talent & extremely similar vocal range. Jacobson has worked on projects starring the classic Muppet Show and Sesame Street characters, & on Bear in the Big Blue House.

Sesame Street
Jacobson started performing on Sesame Street in 1994. In 1997, Jacobson began performing Bert on a semi-regular basis; & in 1998 he added Grover to his list as well, starting with clips for Play with Me Sesame. Today, Jacobson is the principal performer of these two Sesame stars – however Frank Oz occasionally comes in to record new material with them.

Jacobson has also taken on Guy Smiley in recent years, performing the character in videos for Sesame Street Presents: The Body, Ready to Learn commercials, & a 2008 episode. He has also performed minor characters on the show, such as Mr. Tiger, one of the Three Little Pigs and Seven Dwarves Hammy the Dwarf.

The Muppets
Eric Jacobson is currently the principal performer of Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal & Sam the Eagle – as Frank Oz had retired as their performer since 2000.

At 2001's Muppetfest fan convention Jacobson made his Muppet debut secretly performing Miss Piggy welcoming the fans "live via satellite". Jacobson made his 1st major Muppet production debut performing Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, & Animal for 2002's [It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]. He took over the role of Sam the Eagle in 2005 for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

Other Works
Jacobson performed Harry the Duck & other characters on Bear in the Big Blue House.

Outside of Henson, Jacobson has worked on The Puzzle Place, Jack's Big Music Show, & Disney's The Book of Pooh (plus a TV show called Once Upon a Tree, in which he performed Billy Bob the Bobcat). He's also performed on stage performing live puppet theater in New York City with The Puppet Company, The Cosmic Bicycle Theater, & The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park.

Puppeteer Credits

 * Muppet Characters: Animal (2002-present), Fozzie Bear (2002-present), Miss Piggy (2001-present), Sam the Eagle (2005-present)
 * Sesame Street: Bert (1997-present), Frankie, Giant Boulder, Grover (1998-present), Guy Smiley (outside appearances, 4182), one of the Three Little Pigs, Mr. Tiger, Hammy the Dwarf, Yip Yip Martians, "Dinner Theatre" Pumpkin uncle ("Get Your Gun Annie Get Your Gumbo"), Dusty
 * Bear in the Big Blue House: Harry the Duck, Tucker Tutter
 * Elmopalooza: Additional Puppeteer
 * CinderElmo
 * Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor
 * Sesame English
 * Peter and the Wolf
 * Bert & Ernie's Word Play
 * A Celebration of Me, Grover: Grover's Mommy
 * Happy Healthy Monsters
 * The Get Healthy Now Show: Yam, Eggplant, & Michael
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie: Animal, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Yoda Muppet
 * Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
 * The Muppets' Wizard of Oz: Fozzie Bear (as the Cowardly Lion), Miss Piggy (as the Wicked Witch of the East, the Wicked Witch of the West, Tattypoo & Glinda), Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Elmo's Christmas Countdown
 * Count on Sports
 * Studio DC: Almost Live: Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy & Animal
 * Abby in Wonderland
 * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal & Sam the Eagle
 * Families Stand Together
 * The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora: Frankfurter
 * Shalom Sesame: Grover (2010-present)
 * The Muppets