Oz, Frank, 1944-

Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz;[2] May 25, 1944) is an American actor, puppeteer, and filmmaker.

He began his career as a puppeteer, performing the Muppet characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle in The Muppet Show, and Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover in Sesame Street.[3] He also puppeteered and/or provided the voice for Yoda in the Star Wars series.

His work as a director includes The Dark Crystal (1982), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), What About Bob? (1991), In & Out (1997), Death at a Funeral (2007), and an episode of the US television series Leverage (2011). Oz was born on May 25, 1944, in Hereford, Herefordshire, England; the son of Frances (née Ghevaert; 1910–1989) and Isadore Oznowicz (1916–1998), both of whom were puppeteers. Oz and his family moved to Montana in 1951.[7] They eventually settled in Oakland, California.Oz performed as a puppeteer [15] with Jim Henson's Muppets. As a teenager, he worked with the Vagabond Puppets at the Children's Fairyland of Oakland,[16] which is how he first met Henson.[17] He was 19 when he joined Henson in New York to work on the Muppets in 1963.[18] His characters have included Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle on The Muppet Show, and Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert on Sesame Street.[19] In addition to performing a variety of characters, Oz was one of the primary collaborators responsible for the development of the Muppets, known most notably for his chemistry with Jim Henson himself, performing in such pairings as: Ernie and Bert; Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog; Kermit and Miss Piggy; Kermit and Fozzie Bear; Kermit and Grover; Rowlf the Dog and Fozzie; and The Swedish Chef (Henson performed the head and voice, with Oz normally operating the hands). Oz performed as a Muppet performer in over 75 productions, including Labyrinth, video releases, and television specials, as well as countless other public appearances, episodes of Sesame Street, and other Jim Henson series. Oz is also known as the performer of Jedi Master Yoda from George Lucas' Star Wars series. Jim Henson had originally been contacted by Lucas about possibly performing Yoda. Henson was preoccupied and instead suggested Oz be assigned as the chief puppeteer of the character, as well as a creative consultant.[23] Oz performed the puppet and provided the voice for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).[24]