Eric Jacobson

Eric Jacobson, a native of Fort Worth, was inspired to enter the field of puppeteering after the death of Jim Henson while he was attending film school.[3] Jacobson initially began his career as a puppeteer on Sesame Street in 1994, where he worked alongside Frank Oz, often performing the roles of Grover and Bert when Oz wasn't available.[4][5] After Oz retired from the roles, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer.[5] He also took on Guy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson.[6] Jacobson also began performing Oscar the Grouch after Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018.[2] For his work on Sesame Street, Jacobson has been nominated for both a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2019, respectively.[7][4]

Similarly for the Muppets, Jacobson began performing Miss Piggy in 2001.[1][8] The following year, he began performing Fozzie Bear and Animal, debuting in those roles in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. He also began performing Sam Eagle beginning in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005). All the aforementioned characters were also previously performed by Oz, whom Jacobson consulted with to accurately portray the proper characterization, physicality, and voice for the characters.[5]

In 2001, the same year that he worked on The Book of Pooh, where he worked on Piglet and Kanga, he also began playing Miss Piggy, debuting at the "Muppetfest" convention.[8]

Jacobson is married to Mary Jacobson, who works as a production assistant on Sesame Street.[5] His daughter's godfather also works on the show.[5]

• Eric Jacobson at IMDb
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