Martin P. Robinson

Martin P. "Marty" Robinson (b. March 9th, 1954) is a Muppeteer who has performed on Sesame Street since 1980. His main characters include  Slimey , Mr. Snuffleupagus & Telly Monster. He is married to Annie Evans, writer of Sesame Street. Together they run the official Sesame Workshop parenting blog Sesame Family Robinson.

Bio
Marty Robinson has been on staff at The Jim Henson Company since 1981. Early roles include Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster,  Slimey , & Buster the Horse, though all were previously performed by other people. He has also performed  Donald Grump , a parody of world famous tycoon Donald Trump,  Romeo Scuggs , a Grouch seen on Real Grouches (a reality show hosted by  Oscar ) as well as,  Oscar 's niece,  Irvine , & his mother,  Mrs. Grouch ,  Scram-I-Am  (a parody of Sam-I-Am), as well as many announcers. In addition to performing, he has played an active role in hiring & training Muppeteers for local Sesame Street productions in Palestine, Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Russia, & Bangladesh.

Some other Henson productions that Robinson has performed in, outside of Sesame Street, have included the Farmer in Tale of the Bunny Picnic, the animatronics for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, & The Cat in the Hat on The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.

Robinson's stage credits include designing, building & performing Audrey II in the Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, & set designing & building for the Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Frogs.

He got into the business as a member of the Bil Baird Puppet Company. According to Sesame Street Unpaved, "Martin Robinson became a performer so that he could play a wider variety of characters than his "nice guy" looks would have allowed him to play."

Often his Muppets are paired with Caroll Spinney's on Sesame Street, including Telly &  Oscar  & Snuffy & Big Bird. Snuffy has also been paired with  Oscar  on occasion & Telly has also been paired with Big Bird on occasion.  Oscar  has also been paired w/ a number of Robinson's many Grouch roles. Telly is also best friends with David Rudman's Baby Bear, & the characters are paired up quite frequently. Marty's most frequent partner, however, is most likely, Kevin Clash. Along w/ Telly & Elmo, the 2 of them have partnered up many times, including as the Miami Mice, the captain & the mate of the next generation of Spaceship Surprise & the 2 chefs who serve Mr. Johnson at Pizzeria Dos.

Caroll Spinney / Marty Robinson Muppet Pairings

 * Big Bird/Snuffy
 * Big Bird/Telly Monster
 * Big Bird/ Mrs. Grouch 
 * Big Bird/ Gary Grouch 
 * Big Bird/ Slimey 
 * Big Bird/Rocky ( cat )
 * Big Bird/Buster the Horse
 * Big Bird/Shelley the Turtle
 *  Oscar the Grouch /Telly Monster
 *  Oscar the Grouch /Snuffy
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Slimey 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Fluffy 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Walter Cranky 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Donald Grump 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Irvine 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Mrs. Grouch 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Scram - I - Am 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Romeo Scuggs 
 *  Oscar the Grouch / Mr. Greasemonkey 
 *  Oscar the Grouch /Buster the Horse
 *  Oscar the Grouch /Sullivan
 * Granny Bird/Snuffy (soon)
 * Granny Bird/Telly Monster (soon)
 * Granny Bird/ Mrs. Grouch  (soon)
 *  Bruno the Trash man /The orange - haired singer of Bruno  & the Trash men

Muppeteer veteran  Matt Vogel  can be heard & seen taking  Caroll Spinney 's place in 2 of these pairings:


 * Big Bird/Snuffy
 * Big Bird/Telly Monster

Marriage on Sesame Street
Marty & Annie Evans married on the set of Sesame Street. They met in 1993 at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, where Marty was creating a puppet show to premiere during the conference. Martin proposed to Annie on New Year's Eve 2007, & they were married on the steps of 123 Sesame Street in Studio Jat the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. The ceremony was scripted by Evans, with Caroll Spinney as, (of course),  Oscar the Grouch  from his  trash can  to heckle the couple.

Muppeteer Credits

 * Sesame Street: Alligator, The Big Bad Wolf (1990s - 2006), Book, Buster the Horse, Bulldozer, Captain Donald Cragen Muppet, Caesar Penguin, Dicky Tick, Dinger, "Dinner Theatre" father,  Donald Grump , Dr. No, Enzo, Farmer McGregor, Fat Blue Anything Muppet man from "RSI: Rhyme Scene Investigation",  Fluffy , Firefighter Jackson, Frank Lloyd Left, Gyros Spiniapolis, H-Man, Henny Drummschtick, Honkers,  Irvine , Jane Snuffleupagus, Joe Hundred Guy's Butler, Kermit the Forg ("Monsters of Venice"), Kingfish, "Let's Go Driving" father, Luke Warm, Monty,  Mr. Greasemonkey , Mr. Snuffleupagus (1980 - present),  Mrs. Grouch , Murray Matisse, Murray Monster ("Sound of the Letter L"), Next Generation Captain Phil, Proud, "Readers of the Open Range" nameless Pumpkin cowboy,  Romeo Scuggs , Rooster, The Royal Apple Tree,  Scram - I - Am , Shelley the Turtle,  Slimey  (1980 - present), Smelly, Snail, Squirmodine, Sullivan, The Sun (from "I Feel So Happy"), Telly Monster (1984 - present), Tito, Tony, The Tortoise (1987), Vic, Vincent Twice,  Walter Cranky ,  Warren Blechstein , William, Yip Yip Martians
 * Muppet Meeting Films: Papa Luigi
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan: Rat, The Swedish Chef (hands), Muppet Babies
 * Follow That Bird: Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster
 * Little Muppet Monsters
 * The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: The Farmer
 * The Alphabet Game:  Gary Grouch 
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Leonardo ( face )
 * Jim Henson 's Memorial: Himself/Telly Monster
 * The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson: Telly Monster
 * A New Baby in My House: King Goodheart
 * Dog City: Scratch Collie, Mr. MacTaggart, others
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late!: Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus,  Mrs. Grouch 
 * Muppet Treasure Island (Sing-Along): Big Snort & Shark
 * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouch land: Laundromat Manager, Pestie, Telly Monster
 * The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat (Season 2), Civil Servants #1, #2, #5, & #6, The Milk, & The Old Man
 * Panwapa: Tungar the Tiger ( Muppetry only)
 * A Muppets Christ mas : Letters to Santa: a penguin
 * Elmo & Abby 's Birthday Fun!: Jack
 * Elmo 's Alphabet Challenge: Telly Monster,  Telly Monster  (animated)

Non-Henson Credits

 * Little Shop of Horrors: Performed Audrey II for both the Broadway & Off-Broadway productions
 * Spitting Image
 * Allegra's Window: coordinated the construction of many characters, & performed characters.

Puppet Design Credits

 * Designed puppets for the Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs

Trivia

 * Robinson was born in Michigan & grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin where he attended Brookfield East High school. A talented actor & musician, he played the lead in several musicals, including Bernardo in West Side Story & Fagin in Oliver!.
 * According to Street Gang, Robinson uses a converted green house as his home workshop.
 * He has a black belt in karate.
 * Grouches from Sesame Street Marty Robinson has performed once or consistently are:
 *  Irvine 
 *  Mrs. Grouch 
 *  Donald Grump 
 *  Mr. Greasemonkey 
 *  Walter Cranky 
 *  Warren Blechstein 
 *  Romeo Scuggs 
 *  Scram - I - Am