Miss Piggy. Fozzie Bear. Animal. Bert. Grover. Cookie Monster. Yoda.
These iconic characters are all results of a singular talent; of a man whose quest to deliver the best work possible spawned some of the most definitive symbols of our youth.
That man is Frank Oz.
—
Frank Oz, born Richard Frank Oznowicz on the 25th of May, 1944, came into the world with puppeteering in his blood. His parents, Frances and Isidore, were both professional puppeteers who moved to England after fighting the Nazis as part of the Dutch Brigades.
As World War II came to an imminent close, the family relocated to Belgium, where Oz spent the first five years of his life. In 1951, they then moved to the United States, settling in Montana, then California.
Oz took to the craft quickly. He was a shy child, so manipulating puppets became one of the few methods through which he could express himself. By the time the Oznowicz’s came to the US, Oz was performing for the family troupe and studying puppeteering as an intern at Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland amusement park.
For all of this, Oz did not imagine following in his parent’s footsteps professionally. “”I don’t have a love of puppets. I did it as a means of expression. I was able to express myself and please my parents.” He enrolled at Oakland City College, with the intention of becoming a journalist.
That all changed when, at age 19, Oz was recruited into Jim Henson’s Muppet’s Inc. He’d met Henson two years prior, at the Puppeteers of America festival, and had been blown away. “Here was this very quiet, shy guy who did these absolutely fucking amazing puppets that were totally brand new and fresh; that had never been done before.” In turn, Henson had been impressed by Oz, and tried recruiting him on the spot.
Oz was brought on to be the right hand (literally) for Rowlf the Dog, who had come to international attention the year prior when he appeared in commercials for Canadian dog food. Rowlf, along with the rest of the early Muppets, started to make appearances on national variety shows, including The Jimmy Dean Show. It was on this show that Oz accidentally received the abbreviated surname by which he’d be known professionally from then on (Dean was unable to pronounce Oznowicz, so simply mumbled “Frank Oz…”).
When Henson’s wife retired pregnant, Oz was made key assistant. Throughout the following years, Muppet’s Inc. made its money through commercials. Oz and three fellow puppeteers were involved in hundreds of commercials during this time period. Oz’s most famous role – and his most hated – was that of Delbert, the dragon mascot for La Choy chow mein. Delbert was a full-bodied puppet, meaning Oz had to dress in a full costume (which featured an actual flamethrower) to play the part. “I hated it. I hated doing it totally. Jim knew I hated it. I think he relished it. The La Choy dragon was a bitch. I was totally blind in there. I always hated being inside characters, but I was the main performer and that was my job,” Oz told IGN in 2000. “I had to do a couple of others because, again, I was the main performer, but Jim knew that it was going to be short lived after awhile because I just hated doing those things… Loathed it.”
In 1969, Oz and the Muppets team had a chance to take their work to the next level when they were asked to be involved in the Sesame Street pilot for the newly-established National Education Television network. The show marked a special opportunity for Oz especially. “What it meant was that I could actually work out characters, because for years prior to that I was frightened to death of doing my own characters.”
Oz would end up creating Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster, roles he would perform exclusively for the next 32 years. He was also offered the role of Big Bird, but with memories of his experience as the La Choy Dragon still fresh in his mind, he hastily refused.
During the early years, Oz played a part in almost every Sesame Street sketch, often staying on set until 2AM each morning.
Seven years after Sesame Street debuted, the Muppets were ready for their very own show. The team had spent years pitching the idea of a “pretty fucking bizarre” show featuring puppets, but meant for a more mature audience. They’d experimented with the style on Saturday Night Live, but it was an awkward fit, so producers were unsure how to proceed.
Oz would play Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal predominantly, but was also responsible for secondary characters like Sam the Eagle. He also performed the hands for Henson’s Swedish Chef, often improvising the character’s radical hand gestures. These movements lead to The Swedish Chef becoming one of the most iconic side-characters on the show.
A year after The Muppet Show aired, Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz reached out to Henson to find a performer for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. Henson turned straight to Oz. “So I went in my trailer on the set (of The Muppet Movie), and Gary talked about it a little and showed me this character, and sometimes you ‘get’ a character immediately and sometimes, like Bert or Grover, it takes years. So he opened up this book and I saw this drawing, and for some reason, I immediately knew what this guy was. I can’t tell you why. I just knew it.” Oz would lend his voice to Yoda in the next six Star Wars films.
Oz was passionate about the idea of making his mark on the world, and saw his first opportunity to do so with Henson invited him to co-direct 1982’s The Dark Crystal. The offer went to his head; Oz knew he was there primarily in a supporting role, but ended up demanding more and more responsibility. “Jim should have fuckin’ fired me several times,” Oz would recall.
He went on to direct a range of other iconic films: he stepped briefly away from Muppets Inc to helm the 1986 adaption of Little Shop of Horrors, before directing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, Housesitter, The Indian in the Cupboard, In & Out, Bowfinger, The Score, The Stepford Wives, and Death at a Funeral over the next 25 years. Oz developed a reputation for being a difficult director (during filming for The Score, Marlon Brando infamously refused to let Oz direct him, instead opting to be lead by co-star Robert De Niro), but his films were mostly met with critical acclaim and success at the box office.
Oz also dabbled in live-action acting, principally in the films of John Landis. He made appearances in The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, and Trading Places, amongst others.
By the mid-90s, Oz started to transition away from puppeteering, focusing instead on his family and films. He now only performs occasionally, appearing on the set of Sesame Street for only a day a year to record a range of skits.
Frank Oz never really wanted to be a puppeteer. Even when he was working in the industry, he often likened himself to a drone, buzzing from one job to the next with little regard for their value. It was only when he stepped away did he understand the true importance of what he had been involved in for over three decades.
He realised the magic of his work; magic that has lifted the hearts and minds of so many since it first arrived on screens.