Bill Barretta

Bill Barretta
Bill Barretta
	Barretta with Pepe the King Prawn in 2015
Born	William Paul Barretta; June 19, 1964; Yardley, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1]
Occupation	Puppeteer; actor; producer; director;
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Cristina Campbell
Children	1
Family	Gene Barretta (brother)

William Paul Barretta (born June 19, 1964) is an American puppeteer, actor, producer and director, who is best known for providing the puppetry and voice of characters such as Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama, Big Mean Carl, and Bobo the Bear. He also inherited the roles of Rowlf the Dog, Swedish Chef, Mahna Mahna, and Dr. Teeth after the death of Muppet creator Jim Henson.

Early life

Barretta was born William Paul Barretta in Yardley, Pennsylvania on June 19, 1964. He is the younger brother of the children's book author and illustrator Gene Barretta.

Barretta attended St. Mary's Hall-Doane Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, eventually becoming a carpenter. He met Brian Henson while they were working at Sesame Place.

Career

Barretta has been performing with The Muppets since 1991, when he puppeteered the body of Sinclair family patriarch, Earl Sinclair on Dinosaurs. He later developed several new characters on Muppets Tonight, including Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama, Big Mean Carl, and Bobo the Bear.

Barretta has taken over several of Jim Henson's roles, such as Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Mahna Mahna, and Swedish Chef, and briefly took over Jerry Nelson's role of Lew Zealand. His film debut as a principal puppeteer was in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island as Clueless Morgan.

Barretta has produced two of the Muppets' television films, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005). Barretta also provided additional voices on Kim Possible. He performed in Muppets Most Wanted, where he also served as a co-producer.[2] Barretta also served as an executive producer on the ABC series, The Muppets.[3]

Filmography

Film

Film credits
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1995	Murder in the First	Man on the Street	Live-action role
1995	Born to Be Wild	Gorilla Team	Live-action role
1995	Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree	Bear	Puppeteer/voice
1996	Muppet Treasure Island	Clueless Morgan, Blind Pew (puppetry; hands), Swedish Chef, Jacques Roach	Puppeteer/voice
1999	Muppets from Space	Pepe the Prawn, Bobo the Bear, Johnny Fiama, Bubba the Rat, The Swedish Chef, Rowlf the Dog, Cosmic Fish #2	Puppeteer/voice
1999	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Additional Muppet performer	Puppeteer
2002	Kermit's Swamp Years	Croaker, Horace D'Fly, Roy the Frog, Turtle #2	Puppeteer/voice; Direct-to-video
2002	It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie	Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama, Bobo the Bear, Rowlf the Dog, Swedish Chef, Lew Zealand, Howard Tubman, additional characters	Puppeteer/voice; TV movie
2005	The Muppets' Wizard of Oz	Pepe the Prawn, Dr. Teeth, Johnny Fiama, Swedish Chef, Lew Zealand, Bubba the Rat, additional characters	Puppeteer/voice; TV movie
2010	When Families Grieve	Louie	Puppeteer/voice; TV movie
2011	The Muppets	Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Pepe the Prawn, Bobo, Swedish Chef	Puppeteer/voice
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Pepe the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, Big Mean Carl, Bobo the Bear, Carlo Flamingo, Leprechaun Security Guard, Baby Boss	Puppeteer/voice
2018	The Happytime Murders[4]	Phil Phillips, Junkyard, Boar	Puppeteer/voice

Television

Television credits
Year(s)	Television	Role	Notes
1991–1994	Dinosaurs	Earl Sinclair (in-suit performer), Nick (in-suit performer), Rabid Caveman, various characters	Performer
1994	Jim Henson's Animal Show	Armstrong the Chicken Hawk, Vernon the Grizzly, Baby Bear, Dullard the Aardvark, Jared the Tiger, Lazlo the Hyena, Randall the Zebra, Timothy the Owl, Vernon the Grizzly	7 episodes; Puppeteer/voice
1996–1998	Muppets Tonight	Bobo the Bear, Johnny Fiama, Pepe the Prawn, Rowlf the Dog, Big Mean Carl, Clueless Morgan, Howard Tubman, David Hoggselhoff, Zippity Zap, Snookie Blyer, Ernst Stavros Gropuer, additional characters	Puppeteer/voice
1996	The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Uncle Berklummer	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice
2001	Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story	Thunderdell	TV-mini series; live-action role, 2 episodes
2002–2007	Kim Possible	Jackie the Jackal, Jilly from Jersey, Motor Ed's 'Main Bro'	Voice role
2007	Tinseltown	Bobby	TV series short; Puppeteer/voice Also director
2006	Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King	Savage Commando	TV mini-series; Live-action role
2011	Saturday Night Live	Rowlf the Dog	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice
2012	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Dr. Teeth	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice
2014	Piper's Picks TV	Swedish Chef	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice
2015–2016	The Muppets	Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Pepe the King Prawn, Swedish Chef, Bobo the Bear, Big Mean Carl, Mahna Mahna, Howard Tubman, additional characters	Puppeteer/voice Also director; 1 episode
2015	Muppet Moments	Rowlf the Dog, Bobo the Bear, Pepe the King Prawn	TV series short; Puppeteer/voice Also director
2017–2020	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Lonny DuFrane/Mr. Frumpus	3 episodes; Actor/Puppeteer
2018	Muppet Babies	Dr. Teeth	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice
2019	Drop the Mic	Pepe the King Prawn	2 episodes; Puppeteer/voice
2020	Muppets Now	Pepe the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, Howard Tubman, Big Mean Carl, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Bobo the Bear, Bubba the Rat	Also director and executive producer

Video games

Video games
Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Muppet Race Mania	Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf the Dog, Bobo the Bear, Johnny Fiama, Swedish Chef	Voice role
2000	Muppet Monster Adventure	Pepe the King Prawn, Swedish Chef	Voice role
2003	Muppets Party Cruise	Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf the Dog, Bobo the Bear, Johnny Fiama, Swedish Chef	Voice role

Internet

Internet credits
Year(s)	Show	Role	Notes
2014	Nerdy Nummies	Swedish Chef	1 episode; Puppeteer/voice

Events

Event credits
Year	Event	Role	Notes
2017	The Muppets Take the Bowl	Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf, The Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth, Bobo, Mahna Mahna	Puppeteer/voice, live show at the Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 8–10
2018	The Muppets Take the O2	Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf, The Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth, Bobo, Mahna Mahna	Puppeteer/voice, live show at the O2, July 13–14

References

"Ratting Out". Muppet Central. 1999. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
"Muppets Most Wanted: Press Kit" (PDF). The Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
Goldberg, Lesley (May 7, 2015). "ABC Orders Shondaland and Jenna Bans Dramas, 'Muppets' Revival, More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
Hipes, Patrick (September 13, 2017). "Elizabeth Banks Joins Gang for 'The Happytime Murders'". Deadline. Retrieved September 14, 2017.

External links

Preceded by Jim Henson	Performer of Rowlf the Dog 1996 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by David Rudman	Performer of The Swedish Chef 1996 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by John Kennedy	Performer of Dr. Teeth 2005 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Jim Henson	Performer of Mahna Mahna 2005 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by None	Pepe the King Prawn 1996 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by None	Bobo the Bear 1996 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by None	Carl the Big Mean 1996 – present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of Lew Zealand 2002 – 2005	Succeeded by Matt Vogel

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[1] "Ratting Out". Muppet Central. 1999. Retrieved November 24, 2009.

[officialpr-2] "Muppets Most Wanted: Press Kit" (PDF). The Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved June 6, 2014.

[3] Goldberg, Lesley (May 7, 2015). "ABC Orders Shondaland and Jenna Bans Dramas, 'Muppets' Revival, More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 8, 2015.

[4] Hipes, Patrick (September 13, 2017). "Elizabeth Banks Joins Gang for 'The Happytime Murders'". Deadline. Retrieved September 14, 2017.