Matt Vogel (puppeteer)
| Matt Vogel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Matthew J. Vogel II October 6, 1970 Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Matt J. Vogel II Matthew J. Vogel Matthew Vogel Matt J. Vogel |
| Occupation | Puppeteer, director, singer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse(s) | Kelly C. McDonnell (m. 1997) |
Matthew J. "Matt" Vogel II (born October 6, 1970) is an American puppeteer, director, and singer who has been a Muppet performer for the Jim Henson Company since the 1990s. On Sesame Street, Vogel served as the assistant puppeteer for Ernie, performing either one or both hands while Steve Whitmire performed the head and vocal. Eventually, Vogel's ability to mimic the sound and performance of Caroll Spinney's Big Bird was put to use. As of 2006, Vogel's primary performances as Big Bird are the "Journey to Ernie" segments. Vogel has also, occasionally, operated the Big Bird puppet to a vocal track by Spinney in scenes where Big Bird is in the same scene as Oscar the Grouch, letting Spinney perform Oscar. An often-noted coincidence is that "Vogel" is the Dutch and German translation for "bird".
He has also taken over Jerry Nelson's characters, on the recommendation of Nelson himself. With The Muppets Studio, Vogel has been performing Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Robin the Frog, and Camilla the Chicken since 2008. He also took over the puppetry of the Sesame Street character Count von Count, although Nelson continued to provide the voice of the Count until his death on August 23, 2012. In 2013, Vogel assumed both voice and puppetry duties of the Count.
As of 2010 and 2011, he provides both the puppetry and voice of Sweetums and he performed him as well as '80s Robot and Uncle Deadly (another of Nelson's Muppet characters) in the 2011 movie The Muppets.
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