John Kennedy (puppeteer)

John Kennedy
John Kennedy
Born	November 17, 1967 (age 56); Plainfield, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	1991–present

John Kennedy (born November 17, 1967) is an American puppeteer known for his work with The Jim Henson Company since 1990.^[1] He was born in Plainfield, Indiana.^[2] In 1991, Kennedy succeeded Henson in the role of Dr. Teeth, after which Bill Barretta took over in 2005. In 2006, he performed Kermit the Frog on the Disney Cruise Line show, Muppets Ahoy!^[3]

Filmography

Year(s)	Production	Role	Other notes
1999	Muppets from Space	Additional Muppets, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle	Assistant performer
2001	Cats & Dogs		Puppeteer
2002	The Country Bears	Zeb Zoobler	Puppeteer
	Kermit's Swamp Years	Arnie the Alligator, Blotch the Bullfrog, Monkey	Performer; Direct-to-video film
	It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie	Dr. Teeth	Performer; Television film
2005	The Muppets' Wizard of Oz	Angel Marie, Floyd Pepper	Performer; Television film
2009	Old Dogs		Puppeteer

Year(s)	Production	Role	Other notes
1991–94	Dinosaurs	Baby Sinclair, Sid Turtlepuss	Puppeteer
1995	Eureeka's Castle		Assistant performer
1996–1998	The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Little Cat C, Horton the Elephant, Mr. Knox, Norval the Fish, Sam-I-Am, Felix Finkledooper, Milo, Alvin, Announcer, Armand, Birthday Bird, Celli, Delivery Bird, Downer Than Down Whozit, Earl, Flitzpizzle, The Grinch	Performer
1996	Muppets Tonight	Additional Muppets
1997–2020	Sesame Street	Chicken, Dish, Fred, Ned The Green, Four-net Horn Player, Ball of Wax, Artie Abrams, Muppet Horse, The Elephant, Monkey Bunny, Additional Muppet
1998–99	Brats of the Lost Nebula		Puppeteer
2002	Play with Me Sesame		Performer
2003	Animal Jam	DJ #1
2005–07	Jack's Big Music Show	Mel
2010–11	Pajanimals	Apollo
2017	Julie's Greenroom	Toby the Dog
2019	Helpsters	Uncle Squish	Performer; 1 episode
2019–2021	The Slugs & Bugs Show	Morty the Raccoon	Performer
2020	The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo		Performer

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Muppet Treasure Island	Dr. Teeth	Voice
2000	Muppet RaceMania	Dr. Teeth
2003	Muppets Party Cruise	Dr. Teeth, Animal

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
2017	The Muppets Take the Bowl	Additional Muppets	Performer
2018	The Muppets Take the O2	Additional Muppets	Performer

Kennedy has written instructional books on puppeteering, aimed at younger audiences:^[4]

John Kennedy (2004-01-04). Puppet Mania!. North Light Books. ISBN 978-1-58180-372-3.
John Kennedy (2006-04-26). Puppet Planet: The Most Amazing Puppet-Making Book in the Universe. North Light Books. ISBN 978-1-58180-794-3.

^ "See puppets in motion at Orlando museum today". The Orlando Sentinel. April 3, 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
^ Ehret, Michael (November 17, 1995). "Puppeteer returns and steals show". The Indianapolis Star. p. C3. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
^ Sanders, Scott (2019-10-22). "Muppets Ahoy! • The Disney Cruise Line Blog". The Disney Cruise Line Blog. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
^ Gamble, Harriet (2000). "Puppet Revolutionary: An Interview with John E. Kennedy". Arts & Activities. 127 (5): 38. ISSN 0004-3931.

US 6540581, Kennedy, John Edward, "Puppet construction kit and method of making a personalized hand operated puppet", published 2003-04-01

Preceded by Jim Henson	Performer of Dr. Teeth 1991–2003	Succeeded by Bill Barretta
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of The Amazing Mumford 2004; 2018–present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of Floyd Pepper 2005–2006	Succeeded by Matt Vogel

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