Statler and Waldorf

Statler and Waldorf
The Muppets characters
Waldorf (left) and Statler (right)
First appearance	The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975)
Created by	Jim Henson
Performed by	Statler: Richard Hunt (1976–1991) Jerry Nelson (1975, 1992–2002) Steve Whitmire (2002–present) Waldorf: Jim Henson (1975–1990) Dave Goelz (1992–present)
Information
Aliases	Waldorf: P. Fenton Cosgrove, Uncle Waldorf, Robert Marley, Wally-D, Willy R Statler: Uncle Statler, Jacob Marley, StatCat, Alan D
Species	Muppet humans
Gender	Males
Occupation	Hecklers
Family	None known, although Statler has more than one child
Spouse(s)	Waldorf: Astoria Statler: Unknown, although he has a wife
Nationality	American

Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters known for their cantankerous opinions and mutual penchant for heckling. The two elderly men first appeared in The Muppet Show, where they consistently jeered the entirety of the cast and their performances from their balcony seats. Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels, the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria.

In The Muppet Show, the two were always trashing Fozzie Bear's humour, except for one occasion where Fozzie, with help from Bruce Forsyth, heckled them back. In contrast, they found themselves vastly entertaining and inevitably burst into mutual laughter at their own witticisms (though, they would, on several occasions, heckle each other, too). It is later revealed in the A Muppet Family Christmas special that the two hecklers were friends with Fozzie's mother, Emily Bear. Despite constantly complaining about the show and how terrible some acts were, they would always be back the following week in the best seats in the house. As to why, the original version of The Muppet Show theme song had Statler admitting, "I guess we'll never know." They appeared in all but one episode of the show. They later appeared in Muppets Tonight watching television in a retirement home.

They also had a predisposition for breaking the fourth wall. At the end of one episode, they looked at the camera and asked "Why do you watch it?", and in another episode, Statler stated that he didn't care for puppets much, not finding them believable. Waldorf responded, "I don't believe you!"

In "Sex and Violence," the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf were performed by Jerry Nelson and Jim Henson, respectively. Nelson was unavailable for the first few weeks of production on The Muppet Show. As a result, Richard Hunt took on the role of Statler. Hunt and Henson would continue to perform the two characters until Henson's death in 1990.