List of Sesame Street Muppets

Author Christopher Finch reported that director Jon Stone, who had worked with Henson previously, felt that if they could not bring him on board, they should "make do without puppets".

The Muppets were effective teaching tools because children easily recognized them, they were predictable, and they appealed to adults and older siblings.

[4] During the production of Sesame Street's first season, producers created five one-hour episodes to test the show's appeal to children and examine their comprehension of the material.

The producers decided to reject the advisers' advice and reshot the Street segments; Henson and his coworkers created Muppets that could interact with the human actors,[8][9] specifically Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, who became two of the show's most enduring characters.

[10] These test episodes were directly responsible for what writer Malcolm Gladwell called "the essence of Sesame Street—the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults".

Jim Henson , creator of The Muppets (seen here at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards 8 months before his death), was initially reluctant to work on Sesame Street , but joined due to social concerns of the time.
Frank Oz , who performed many Muppets throughout his career, from the debut of Sesame Street to most Henson productions
Caroll Spinney performed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from the show's debut in 1969 until his retirement in 2018
Steve Whitmire , who took over many of Jim Henson's characters after Henson's death in 1990, including Ernie and Kermit the Frog [ 12 ]
Kevin Clash , with Elmo, his most famous puppet, whom he performed from 1985 to 2012
Eric Jacobson (2015), pictured here performing Grover
David Rudman (2015), who performs Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, and the Two-Headed Monster
Jennifer Barnhart , who performed Gladys the Cow and Mama Bear, and also currently performs Zoe
Matt Robinson, who in addition to performing the voice of the character Roosevelt Franklin, played Gordon on Sesame Street