Fran Brill

 Frances Joan " F ran " Brill  ( born September 30th, 1946 ) is an actress & Muppeteer  who worked on  SESAME STREET  since 1970. She was the 1 st female puppeteer hired by Jim Henson , outside of  his  wife ( later widow ) Jane Henson. She is best known for performing Zoe & Prairie Dawn. 2 of her other  SESAME STREET  characters are Snow  GROUCH , a parody o f Snow White &  OMAGROSSA  , a parody of Omarosa Manigault - Stall worth. She also voiced the red   GROUCH  in "  SCRAM  a lot  ", a spoof of Spam a l ot. Brill retired from  SESAME STREET  in 2014.

Early Career
A Pennsylvania native, Brill began her performing career in community theater , & in 1 968 , while in Atlanta , she joined the cast of the play Red , White & Maddox , which ridiculed segregationist governor Lester Maddox. The show proved somewhat controversial due to its political subject matter, but transferred to Broadway in 1 969 , & Brill moved to New York City to join her fellow cast member s , who included a young Christopher Lloyd. The show closed in less than 3 months, after only 41 performances. Out o f a job, Brill was seeking work as a voice - over actress & in radio commercial s , when she answer ed an ad from [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Jim_Henson_Company Muppets Inc. ], auditioning performers for what she initially assume d was a voice - over assignment. As the puppeteer recalled, " In those days , 1970 , it was a small operation & if you call ed , you could get Jim  directly on the phone . . . . They were training people to do a Christ mas special for The Ed Sullivan Show . " The special aired as T h e Great San ta Cla us Switch , & after a 2 week puppetry workshop with  Henson  , she was sub sequently ask e d t o join "  SESAME STREET  ".

SESAME STREET Girls
For  SESAME STREET , Brill initially played a variety of minor role s , usually supplying little girl voice s , but quickly established her 1 st notable character , Prairie Dawn : " They had a little pink puppet , they put o n a blond w ig , a party dress & asked me to create a character - a very feminine , girly - girl in the ' 70 s . I came up with an innocent , pretty sound . I developed the character by working with her . "

Brill also coined the character ' s name : " I heard of an actress with a similar name [ Prairie Dorn ] & Jim  loves unusual names . " Other characters followed, but it wasn ' t until 1993 that Brill established her next major role , as Zoe. Brill ob served chil dren, boy & gir l , when developing her performance , picking up the basis for the character ' s laugh as well as the initial catch phrase " Don ' t joke me . " Though Brill was initially uncertain of t he character ' s longevity , Zoe was the only new character introduced that season who h a s en dure d & thrive d. Most recently, she added a n ew girl to her resume , play ing Kami , the HIV - positive Muppet from Takalani  SESAME  , for all public appearance s in the U. S. . Outside of  SESAME STREET , Brill has worked on The Muppet Show pilot , The Muppet Show : Sex & Violence , SNL , & Dog City , amongst many other Muppet projects.

Acting Career
While Muppetry  kept her busy, Brill continued to pursue an acting career on stage & screen. On stage, concurrent w / her Muppet work , Brill won 2 Drama Desk Awards for  What Every Woman Knows  ( 1976 ) &  Knuckles  ( 1981 ). She received considerable acclaim for her role as Fran Bachman on the soap opera  H o w t o Survive a Marriage  ( 1974 - 1975 ), in particular for her dramatic scenes following the death of t he character ' s husband. Her notable film credits include  Being There  ( 1 979 ),  Midnight Run  (1 988 , as Charles Grodin ' s wife ) , & '' W h at About Bob ? '' ( 1991, coincidentally , directed by Brill ' s fellow Muppeteer  veteran  Frank Oz  ). TV work includes recurring stints on such soap operas as  All My Children  &  As the World Turns  as featured supporting character s & guest spots o n  Third Watch ,  L a w & Order  , &  Kate & Allie . She has also made several cameo s in Muppet production s.

Brill ' s voice work include s the animate d series Doug & Doug 's First Movie, Courage the Cowardly Dog , & several radio & T V commercial s. As she note d in 1987, " I can pinch myself & say , ' I may not be a major motion picture star , but that ' s OK . I ' ve done a l l right . "

Muppeteer Credit s

 *  SESAME STREET  : The Sugar Plum Fairy, Alice , Anne Phibian , Arlene Frantic , Baa Baa Walters , Betty Lou ( occasionally , such as i n " A m i g o " ) , Birthday Cake , Camera Countess Dahling von Dahling , Countess von Backwards ( 1 994 - 1 9 96 ) , Det . Olivia Benson , " Dinner Theatre " moth er , Fran , Frieda ,  Grouch   construction wor k er  , Howie , I . C . DeForrest , Kuwa , Lavender J Friend , June Moon , Lady Two , " Let ' s G o Driving " mother , Little Bird ( 1970 - present ) , Little Bo Peep ( some time s ) , Little Jerry ( in a sketch where Grover & the Monotones demonstrate the word "W a lk " ) , Little Red Riding Hood , Marylou , Miss Vicki , Ms . Carpenter , Mrs . Crustworthy , Nora Nicks ,  Omagrossa  , Pipe Organ , Polly Darton , Prairie Dawn , Princess Cutie , Princess Geraldine , Rita Rucci , Roxie Marie , Sadie Schwartzbaum , Sandy ,  Scramalot   Grouch  , the Small Bird ,  Snow Grouch  , 1 of the String Beans , Summer Squall , The Sun ( from  Elmo  ' s World Sky ) , Ursula , Vertigo , Vivian , Wanda Cousteau , Zoe
 * Sesame Beginnings : Baby Prairie Dawn
 * A New Baby in My House
 * Play With Me Sesame
 * T h e Great San ta Cla us Switch : Snerf
 * Muppet Meeting Films : Janice
 * Saturday Night Live : Vazh
 * The Muppet Show : Mary Louise, Dancers ( 2 episodes )
 * The Muppet Show : Sex & Violence : Janice, Ohreally Bird , Receptionist , Leafy Green Vegetables , Pink Stalk , Whatnot , Miss Piggy
 * The Jim Henson Hour : Patina, Vicki , Merlin ' s Assistant , Solid Foam Drummer , Zondra , Colleen Barker ( " Dog C i t y " ) , Maxine ( " Monster Telethon " )
 * Billy Bunny ' s s Animal Songs : The Porcupine, Frog
 * Dog City : Colleen Barker, Terri Springer
 * L e t ' s Eat ! : Funny Food Songs : Little Miss Muffet
 *  Elmo  palooza : Prairie Dawn, Zoe
 *  The Adventure s of  Elmo  in  GROUCH  land  : Pestie , Zoe
 *  B ert  &  Ernie  ' s Word Play : The Frosty Four
 * Talk, Listen , Connect : Mae
 * Panwapa : Athena the Owl ( Muppetry  only )
 * Learning is Everywhere : Miss Fran
 * The Producers : Pigeons

Trivia

 * Brill is right - handed.