For two decades, Steve Whitmire has served as the performer behind the world’s beloved Kermit the Frog as well as other famous Muppets and Sesame Street characters. In this two-part dialogue, he discusses the impact the Integral vision has had upon his own life, career, and creativity, and opens the door to a possible future of explicitly Integral puppetry….
Steve Whitmire
Steve Whitmire became interested in being a puppeteer while watching the Muppets on Sesame Street as a teenager. He began working as a puppeteer at an Atlanta theme park, which led to invaluable experience on local television. After meeting Caroll Spinney at a puppetry festival, he auditioned for Jim Henson and began his Muppet career in London working on The Muppet Show. Whitmire has been a principal Muppet performer since 1978 and has worked on every major Muppet project since. He has performed Ernie and Kermit the Frog since Jim Henson's death in 1990 and his other notable characters include Rizzo the Rat, Bean Bunny, Beaker, Statler, Jake the Polar Bear, Andy Pig, Mr. Poodlepants, Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket the Dog.