Steve Whitmire
Celebrity Profile
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193 cm (6' 4'') |
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Steve Whitmire
Steve Whitmire was born on September 24, 1959 in Atlanta, United States (63 years old). Steve Whitmire is a Puppeteer, zodiac sign: Libra. Find out Steve Whitmirenet worth 2020, salary 2020 detail bellow.
Brief Info
Puppeteer who followed in the footsteps of the late Jim Henson by performing with two of his most significant puppets: Kermit the Frog from The Muppets and Ernie from Sesame Street.
Trivia
He has performed other Muppet characters aside from Kermit the Frog which include Rizzo the Rat, Lips, Foo-Foo, Beaker, and Statler.
Before Fame
He first made waves while performing with his puppet Otis as part of an unpaid gig at Six Flags Over Georgia and later at a local Atlanta television station.
Biography Timeline
He worked with puppets after graduating high school, and eventually got a job working on The Muppet Show in 1978. Since then, Whitmire performed in almost every major Henson company project, including non-Muppet projects such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Dinosaurs.
Whitmire was the second performer of two signature Muppets—Kermit the Frog and Ernie—after the death of their creator and original performer Jim Henson in 1990. Whitmire was personally asked by Brian Henson and Jane Henson to be Kermit's performer a few weeks after Jim Henson's death. Heather Henson arranged for a Kermit puppet to be sent to Whitmire's residence; however, Whitmire hid the puppet away for weeks before deciding on taking on the role. Following the death of Richard Hunt and the retirement of Jerry Nelson, Whitmire took over the roles of Beaker and Statler, respectively. In 2014, Billy Barkhurst took over the role of Ernie, with Peter Linz taking over that role in 2017.
The Henson family stated that issues with Whitmire began in the mid-1990s, with Brian Henson stating that Whitmire made "outrageous demands and often played brinkmanship", and said that he should have dismissed Whitmire and recast Kermit before Disney acquired the Muppets in 2004, because "I knew that it was going to be a real problem". Lisa Henson stated that Whitmire was opposed to having an understudy for Kermit and refused to train one, which became problematic when it came to "B-level performances, such as a ribbon-cutting," at some of which she said Whitmire was unwilling to appear. She also stated that he "blackballed young performers".
Whitmire voiced Link Hogthrob in the Muppet RaceMania and Muppets Party Cruise video games. He also performed Link for the 2011 film, The Muppets. This was the first speaking appearance of the character since the death of Jim Henson, the original performer of Link. He also performed him in Muppets Most Wanted. In 2008, Whitmire took over another of Jim Henson's roles, The Muppet Newsman.
In July 2017, The Muppets Studio announced that Whitmire was no longer involved with the Muppets and that fellow Muppet performer Matt Vogel was cast as Kermit's new performer. Whitmire revealed that he was dismissed from his roles in October 2016 because of undisclosed issues that he said had not been discussed before his dismissal. In their decision-making, Disney consulted with the Henson family, who supported the recasting of Kermit and Whitmire's dismissal.
Family Life
Steve was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Steve married Melissa Whitmire in 1978.
🎂 Upcoming Birthday
Currently, Steve Whitmire is 63 years, 4 months and 3 days old. Steve Whitmire will celebrate 64th birthday on a Sunday 24th of September 2023. Below we countdown to Steve Whitmire upcoming birthday.
Recent Birthday Highlights
51st birthday -
Friday,
September 24, 2010
Happy Birthday Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire!
Today, September 24th, marks the birthday of both Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire, two of the greatest entertainers of all time. Last year we payed tribute to Jim and Steve with a collection of pictu…
Steve Whitmire
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