Eric Jacobson

Eric Jacobson (b. July 25th, 1970), started working with the Muppets in 1994 as a Muppeteer on Sesame Street & rose through the ranks of Sesame Street Muppeteers. 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 & Sesame Street characters, & on Bear in the Big Blue House. "I grew up watching the Muppets, & was a rabid fan myself & to carry on this legacy is really important."


 * -Eric Jacobson

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, he is the principal performer of these Sesame stars. He & David Rudman shared the role of Cookie Monster up until 2002 when Sesame Workshop had picked David to take the role of Cookie Monster on full-time for there to be more interaction between that character, Grover & Bert – however Frank Oz occasionally comes in to record new material with them.

Jacobson has also recently taken on Jim Henson's role of Guy Smiley in recent years, performing the character in videos for Sesame Street Presents: The Body, Ready to Learn commercials, & episode 4182. He has also performed minor characters on the show, such as Mr. Tiger, 1 of the 3 Little Pigs & Hammy the Dwarf. He was also the performer of Dusty, the drummer in  Oscar the Grouch 's "alternate" Grouch band in episode 3950.

Jacobson's wife was a production assistant on the show; they met on the program. His daughter's godfather works for the series.

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, Animal & Miss Piggy for It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie in 2002 while Kevin Clash provided the voice of Sam the Eagle (the Muppetry for whom was performed by John Kennedy). He took over the role of Sam the Eagle in 2005 for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz & he has been voicing the character ever since. He also performed the voice of Marvin Suggs in the 2011 film, The Muppets.

In 2011, Dave Goelz commented on Jacobson: "When Steve was able to do Kermit, I thought, "Wow, we got off lucky there, but if something happens to Frank or he leaves, we'll just be dead." Lo & behold, Eric Jacobson, who like Steve had been around for a long time in the Sesame Street performing group, was able to do very credible versions of Frank's characters. He's incredible with Miss Piggy. The 1st time I was at a read-through with Eric, I hadn't noticed his arrival, & we started reading the script. I heard Frank & looked around the room. & Frank wasn't there. So it was really an interesting thing. "

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.

Jacobson has been honored for his work on several occasions & holds the distinction of being the 1st puppeteer to work on multiple film & TV productions cited for excellence by UNIMA in the same year.

Muppeteer Credits

 * Jacobson's primary Muppet Characters:
 * Bert (1997 - present)
 * Frank Oz (Sesame Street Season 1 (1969) - present)
 * Grover (1998 - present)
 * Frank Oz (Sesame Street Season 2 (1970) - present)
 * Miss Piggy (MuppetFest (2001) - present)
 * Frank Oz (The Muppet Show (1976) - The Today Show (2002))
 * Animal (It's a Very Merry Muppet Christ mas Movie (2002) - present)
 * Frank Oz (The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) - Muppet RaceMania (2000))
 * Fozzie Bear (It's a Very Merry Muppet Christ mas Movie (2002) - present)
 * Frank Oz (The Muppet Show (1976) - Muppet RaceMania (2000))
 * Sam the Eagle (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) - present)
 * Frank Oz (The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) - Muppet RaceMania (2000))
 * Guy Smiley (Sesame Street Presents: The Body (2005) - present)
 * Jim Henson (Sesame Street Season 1 (1969) - Season 21 (1990))
 * Sesame Street:  Dusty , Bert, Cookie Monster (2002 & 2005), Grover, Guy Smiley, Frankie, Giant Boulder, 1 of the Three Little Pigs, Mr. Tiger, Hammy the Dwarf, Yip Yip Martians, "Dinner Theatre" Pumpkin uncle ("Get Your Gun Annie Get Your Gumbo"), Mother Goose
 * Bear in the Big Blue House: Harry the Duck, Tucker Tutter
 * Elmo palooza: Additional Muppeteer
 * Cinder Elmo
 * Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor
 * Sesame English
 * Peter & the Wolf
 * Bert & Ernie 's Word Play: Bert
 * A Celebration of Me,  Grover : Grover, Grover's Mommy
 * Happy Healthy Monsters
 * The Get Healthy Now Show: Yam, Eggplant, & Michael
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christ mas Movie: Fozzie Bear, Animal, Miss Piggy, & 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 Christ mas Countdown
 * Count on Sports
 * Studio DC: Almost Live: Fozzie Bear, Animal, & Miss Piggy
 * Abby in Wonderland
 * A Muppets Christ mas : Letters to Santa: Fozzie Bear, Animal & Miss Piggy & Sam the Eagle
 * Families Stand Together
 * The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora: Frankfurter
 * Shalom Sesame: Grover (2010 episodes)
 * The Muppets: Fozzie Bear, Animal, Miss Piggy, Sam the Eagle, Marvin Suggs & Beautiful Day Monster

Trivia

 * Characters of Frank Oz's Eric Jacobson has voiced once or consistently are:
 * Miss Piggy (MuppetFest (2001) - present)
 * Fozzie Bear (It's a Very Merry Muppet Christ mas Movie (2002) - present)
 * Animal (It's a Very Merry Muppet Christ mas Movie (2002) - present)
 * Sam the Eagle (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005 - present)
 * Bert (1997 - present)
 * Grover (1998 - present)
 * Cookie Monster (2002 & 2005)
 * Marvin Suggs (The Muppets (2011) - present (presumably))
 * Grover's Mommy (A Celebration of Me, Grover (2004))