Richard Hunt

• Name — Richard Hunt • Born — 17 August 1951 • Birthplace — The Bronx, New York, U.S. • Died — 7 January 1992 • Place of death — Manhattan, New York, U.S. • Death Cause — AIDS • Years Active — 1969–1992 • Occupation — Puppeteer, actor • Partner — Nelson Bird • Notable Works — * The Muppets • Sesame Street • Fraggle Rock

Hunt was born in The Bronx, New York. The family eventually moved to Closter, New Jersey some years later. Hunt came from a family of performers. As a student in middle school and high school, he put on puppet shows for local children, and was a fan of the then-fledgling Muppets. After high school graduation, and a four-month stint of doing weather reports at a local radio station, Hunt pursued a meeting with Jim Henson. He cold-called from a payphone and was invited to audition. He worked for the Cousin Brucie radio show after graduating from Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, faking his credentials to write weather reports.

After he was hired to work on Sesame Street, Hunt mostly performed background characters. One of his first major performances was as Taminella Grinderfall in The Frog Prince, physically performing the character while Jerry Juhl portrayed the voice. Hunt performed Scooter and shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until the final quarter of the first season of The Muppet Show. His characters on Sesame Street included Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, and Sully; Hunt also briefly performed Elmo before Kevin Clash was cast in that role. On Fraggle Rock, Hunt's main role was the performing the facial expressions and voice of Junior Gorg; he also performed Gunge (one of the Trash Heap's barkers) as well as several one-shot or minor characters. Hunt also worked as a director of several home video releases such as Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along and Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game, as well as an episode of Fraggle Rock. Hunt was close friends with fellow puppeteer Jerry Nelson. Several of their characters were paired, such as Nelson's Floyd Pepper with Hunt's Janice; the Two-Headed Monster; and Nelson's Pa Gorg to Hunt's Junior Gorg on Fraggle Rock.

Hunt was gay. When Rudolf Nureyev, also openly gay, made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show, Nureyev flirted with Hunt backstage. Hunt was in a relationship with Kenneth "Nelson" Bird, a painter from Alabama, until Bird's death from AIDS in 1985, aged 31. Mark Hamill told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel during an interview in November 2003 that he became friends with Hunt during his Muppet Show appearance, and that "[Hunt] became one of the best friends my family has ever had."

Film roles • Year — Film — Role — Notes • |1977 — Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas — Charlie Muskrat, Fred Lizard, George Rabbit — Puppeteer/voice • |1979 — The Muppet Movie — Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice • |1981 — The Great Muppet Caper — Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets — Puppeeter/voice • |1983 — Trading Places — Wilson • |1984 — The Muppets Take Manhattan — Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice • |1984 — Oxford Blues — Larry • |1985 — Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird — Gladys the Cow, Elmo, Board of Birds Member, Sully, Count von Count (puppeteer only) — Puppeteer/voice • |1986 — The Christmas Toy — Belmont — Puppeteer/voice • |1987 — A Muppet Family Christmas — Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Gladys the Cow, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice • |1990 — The Muppets at Walt Disney World — Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Statler, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice • |1990 — The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson — Scooter, Beaker, Janice — Puppeteer/voice • |1991 — Muppet*Vision 3D — Scooter, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice; Theme park attraction • 1993 — Billy Bunny's Animal Songs — Edgar Bear, Raccoon — Puppeteer/voice; Posthumous release Television roles • Years — Title — Role — Notes • 1972–1992 — Sesame Street — Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Sully, Gladys the Cow, Two-Headed Monster, Forgetful Jones, Sonny Friendly, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice (Also direct 1 episode) • 1976–1981 — The Muppet Show — Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, Sweetums, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice • 1983–1987 — Fraggle Rock — Gunge, Junior Gorg, Beige Fraggle, Firechief Fraggle, Flex Doozer, Turbo Doozer, Gillis Fraggle, Lambo, Herkimer Fraggle, Mean Genie, Mudwell the Mudbunny, The Odd Old Man, The Wizard, The Bandit Fraggle, Additional Muppets — Puppeteer/voice (Also direct 1 episode) • 1985 — Little Muppet Monsters — Tug Monster, Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Animated Muppet Shorts Narrator — Puppeteer/voice • 1990 — The Cosby Show — Statler, Disagreeable Sandwich, Boppity — Puppeteer/voice