Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt (August 16, 1951 - January 7, 1992) was a longtime Muppet performer who is known for his many characters, his accomplished singing voice, & his warm backstage personality. Hunt brought many popular characters to life, including Scooter, Beaker, Janice, Statler, Sweetums, Junior Gorg, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, Sonny Friendly, Sully, & Forgetful Jones. He also was the voice of Grandpa Grouch, Oscar the Grouch's grandfather.

Sesame Street Works
During his 1st few seasons on Sesame Street, Hunt was basically a background performer, assisting other puppeteers with characters (performing the right hands of certain characters, & performing the back half of Mr. Snuffleupagus) or performing characters to pre-recorded tracks. Hunt gradually became 1 of the main performers, performing such characters as Sully, Sonny Friendly, Gladys the Cow, Don Music, the horns-up half of the Two-Headed Monster, Dip the Cat, & Forgetful Jones.

Although a main performer on the show, none of Richard Hunt's Sesame Street characters became major characters in the same way as Caroll Spinney's Oscar the Grouch & Big Bird, Frank Oz's Cookie Monster, & even Kevin Clash's Elmo (who Hunt actually performed as a minor character, 1984-1985). Even after being a main puppeteer, Hunt would often perform in Sesame Street productions (such as Christmas Eve on Sesame Street & Don't Eat the Pictures) where he didn't perform character voices.

Richard Hunt served as a mentor to newer puppeteers, most especially David Rudman. When a new puppeteer joined the Sesame Street set, Hunt was the 1st to haze & initiate them into the group. Despite this, he always took new puppeteers to lunch, as well as anyone on the set who wanted to join him. He was known to often read the newspaper as he was performing a character & doing that character's lines. Soon after Richard died, David Rudman took over at least 3 of his Sesame Street characters: Sonny Friendly, Richard's half of the Two-Headed Monster, & Sully.

Muppet Show Antics
Richard Hunt was 1 of the main performers on The Muppet Show, & 1 of 5 performers to be a regular performer on all 5 seasons. His main character was Scooter, but he also performed Beaker, Statler, Janice, & Sweetums. During season 1, he shared the role of Miss Piggy w/ Frank Oz, but by the end of season 1, Piggy became Oz's main character, & Hunt no longer performed her.

Richard Hunt has also been noted for his fine singing voice. As Scooter he sang such songs as "There's a New Sound", "At the Hop", & "Six String Orchestra". He also performed Wayne, who was part of the singing duo Wayne & Wanda, & though the 2 stopped appearing after season 2, because Wanda's performer, Eren Ozker had left the show, Wayne eventually came back to make solo appearances every now & then, singing such songs as "For Me and My Goyle" & "Catch a Falling Star". Despite Hunt's singing voice & the fact that Janice was a musician, playing guitar for the Electric Mayhem, Janice seldom sang lead vocals in songs. She did have 2 major lead-singing performances, singing "With a Little Help From My Friends" & "Rockin' Robin".

In the 1981 book Of Muppets and Men, Christopher Finch described Hunt's endless energy & humor. "He seems to get more unadulterated pleasure from performing than anyone else in the organization," Finch wrote. "When he is not working on camera, he is apt to have Scooter or Beaker or Janice -- anyone -- on his arm for the purpose of entertaining visitors to the studio. If there are no visitors around, he will attempt to entertain his co-workers... Like Jerry Nelson, he is a versatile on-camera performer, but his importance to the show derives also from his off-camera personality. He makes the crew laugh, jokes with the guest star, clowns for the shop personnel. He is 1 of the chief reasons for the loose atmosphere that exists around Studio D despite the pressure & the slow pace that are endemic to television production."

Fraggle Rock
On Fraggle Rock, Richard Hunt had 2 major characters, Junior Gorg & Gunge. He also performed many minor & 1-shot guest characters, & he originally performed The Storyteller Fraggle (before Terry Angus took over). Richard was most involved with the show during season 1, since unlike Sprocket or the main 5 Fraggles, his characters weren't needed for every (or almost every) episode. After that season, as the background performers began to do more character voices on the show, Hunt performed less frequently on the series, spending his extra time on Sesame Street. According to Terry Angus, "After the first season, Richard didn't come in as much, because his characters weren't really called for that often & all of us Canadians were given a chance to do characters every now and then which gave Richard an easier time of it. Plus, he was going down to work on Sesame Street."

Richard Hunt also assisted in the audition process for background puppeteers on Fraggle Rock. He made his directorial debut with the season 5 episode "The Honk of Honks." He also made a cameo as himself ("The Boss" director) in Fraggles Look for Jobs, the show's wrap tape.

Richard Hunt & Jerry Nelson
Richard Hunt's characters were often paired w/ those of Jerry Nelson. On Sesame Street, Hunt's Sully was the construction worker sidekick to Nelson's Biff. Nelson's Floyd Pepper was often paired w/ Hunt's Janice in musical numbers, & in a romantic relationship. Floyd also shared lead vocals in the "Mr. Bassman" number w/ Scooter, whose uncle JP Grosse, the owner of the Muppet Theater, was also performed by Nelson. Hunt performed Sweetums alongside 1 of Nelson's characters, Robin the Frog, (the nephew of Jim Henson's Kermit the Frog), in the song "Two Lost Souls", in episode 223, & every since then, they've been the best of friends. Hunt also performed Junior Gorg, the son of Nelson's Pa Gorg on Fraggle Rock. Also, while Nelson voiced Granny Grouch, Oscar the Grouch's grandmother, Hunt voiced Grandpa Grouch, Oscar's grandfather. They were never in the same scene together, but it shows yet another successful pairing.

Additionally, the 2 performers shared the role of the Two-Headed Monster. They also play the children in the Twiddlebug family w/ Hunt performing the son, Timmy Twiddlebug, & Nelson performing the daughter, Tina Twiddlebug. Another notable team-up included Hunt's role as Gunge, normally paired w/ Marjory the Trash Heap (a Nelson character), in addition to Dave Goelz' Philo character. Both performers had characters named after them in the band Little Jerry & the Monotones, w/ Hunt performing Rockin' Richard alongside Nelson's Little Jerry. David Rudman took over for both Richard's half of the Two-Headed Monster & Sully after Richard passed away, keeping Richard's legacy alive by working with Jerry.

Jerry Nelson recalled the relationship:

""Richard came into the company when he was pretty young, & I kind-of took Richard under my wing, when he first came in, since Frank & Jim were sort-of a team & I was like a straight man or foil that worked off their characters. So when Richard came in, we got to a point where we would work really well together. When 1 of us would start to go somewhere, the other would know what was happening.""



Final Years
Hunt died of AIDS-related complications in 1992. Among his last productions were The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, Muppet*Vision 3D, & Billy Bunny's Animal Songs (the last of which was released in 1993, a year after his death). Following his death, Scooter was retired & absent as a character in all of the major Muppet productions till Muppets from Space, in which he was voiced by Adam Hunt, Richard's surviving brother. He has since been performed by Matt Vogel, Brian Henson, Rickey Boyd, &, also most recently & seemingly permanently, David Rudman, who carries Richard's legacy on to this very day, performing Scooter, Sully, Janice, Sonny Friendly (for a short time), Dip the Cat, & Richard's half of the Two-Headed Monster. Very few of Hunt's other characters (with the notable exceptions of Beaker, Statler, & Sweetums) were recast w/ new performers for years. Many of his other characters were relegated to silent background roles, though a few (such as Gladys the Cow) have been gradually recast since then.

Muppeteer Credits

 * The Muppet Show Characters: African Mask (Mountain), Beaker (1977-1992), Behemoth (episode 119), Billy the Bear (episode 401), Benson, Blue Frackle (episode 103, episode 115, episode 202, episode 218, episode 307), Bubba, Catgut, Clive Cahuenga, Contender 980116, Cow (episode 121), Doctor Pig, Droop (episode 220), George, Geri and the Atrics (False Teeth), Ghost, Gingerbread Man, Gladys, The Gogolala Jubilee Jugband (Purple Whatnot), Gorgon Heap (episode 116), Hat, Janice (1977-1992), Lenny the Lizard (episode 208), Lubbock Lou (occasionally), Luncheon Counter Monster (episode 223), Lyle the Dog (episode 523), Male Ghost, The March Hare, Mean Mama (episodes 201, 211, & 515), Mildred Huxtetter (episode 109), Miss Kitty (episode 119), Miss Piggy (1976-1977, occasionally), Ohboy Bird, Paul Revere (legs only), Quongo (episode 509), Ronald Duck (episode 220), Salzburg Sauerkraut Singer, Scooter (1976-1992), The Showman, Statler (1976-1992), Sweetums (1976-1992), Tiny, Wayne, Winny, Youknow Bird (episode 218), Zelda Rose (episode 308)
 * Sesame Street Characters: Aristotle, The Beetles' Lead Singer, Billy the Grownup, Brad, Captain Vegetable (1983-1984), Cheerful, Dip, Don Music, Elmo (1984-1985), Farmer Fowler, Fenwick la Touche, Flying Fish, Forgetful Jones, Frankie, Gilbert, Gladys the Cow, Grandpa Grouch, Green Alphabeat, Grenadier Guardsman, Harry, Harvey Monster (occasionally), John, Kermit the Forg ("We Are All Monsters"), King Gerry's Doctor, Leaky, Leo the Party Monster, a lettuce from "Grow High Grow Low", Large Lavender Live Hand Librarian, Larry Rhymie, Little Red Riding Hood (1972), Madame Schwartzhead, Maurice Monster (occasionally), McDougal Monster, Mr. Moses, Mr. Snuffleupagus (back half, occasionally), Old King Cole's Band Green fiddler & Lavender drummer, Old MacDonald (1980s), a pear from "Bilingual Fruit Song", Placido Flamingo, Potter Piper, "Readers of the Open Range" nameless Pumpkin cowboy, Rockin' Richard, Rocky the Cat, Rodeo Rosie (occasionally), Spaceship Surprise Mate, Stan, Stuie Monster, Sully, Timmy Twiddlebug, Tommy, Tony, Tough Eddie (1980s), Two-Headed Monster, Umeko's Friends, Victor, Willy Nilly, Witch, Yip Yip Martians, The Young Woman Who Lives in a Hat
 * Fraggle Rock: Gunge, Junior Gorg, Beige Fraggle, Firechief Fraggle, Flex Doozer, Gillis Fraggle, Herkimer Fraggle, Mean Genie, Mudwell the Mudbunny, Odd Old Man, Storyteller Fraggle (episode 108 only), Turbo Doozer, Venerable Sage Lambo, Wizard
 * The Great Santa Claus Switch: Bing
 * The Ed Sullivan Show: Blue Violinist
 * The Frog Prince: Taminella Grinderfall (puppetry only)
 * The Muppets Valentine Show: Giant Mouse
 * Saturday Night Live: Wisss
 * One to One: The Queen of Phumph
 * The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence: Crazy Harry, Hoggie Marsh, Lust, Ohboy Bird
 * Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten #10: Bert
 * Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas: Charlie Beaver, George Rabbit, Fred Lizard
 * Little Muppet Monsters: Tug Monster, Beaker, "Muppet Sports Shorts" Narrator
 * Follow That Bird: Grouch Diner Patrons, Various
 * The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Lugsy
 * The Christmas Toy: Belmont
 * Puppetman: Del Zivic (on-camera role), Gertha, Earl
 * Tube: Crasher
 * A Muppet Family Christmas: Scooter, Beaker, Janice, Statler, the Two-Headed Monster, Cow, The Snowman
 * The Ghost of Faffner Hall: The Wild Impresario
 * Cosby Show: Disagreeable Sandwich
 * Billy Bunny's Animal Songs: Edgar Bear, Raccoon 1