Eric Jacobson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Jacobson
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Jacobson at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015
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Born |
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
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Occupation | Puppeteer |
Years active | 1994–present |
Spouse(s) | Mary Jacobson |
Children | 1 |
Eric Jacobson is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as Sesame Street characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney, and Jim Henson.
Since 1994, Jacobson has been a regular performer for Sesame Street, where he has received Daytime Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Since 2001, Jacobson has appeared as part of the Muppets cast in several feature films and television series, including The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the ABC primetime television series, The Muppets (2015-16), and the Disney+ series, The Muppets Mayhem (2023).
Career
Eric Jacobson, a native of Fort Worth, was inspired to enter the field of puppeteering after the death of Jim Henson while he was attending film school. Jacobson initially began his career as a puppeteer on Sesame Street in 1994, where he worked alongside Frank Oz, often performing the roles of Grover and Bert when Oz wasn't available. After Oz retired from the roles, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer. He also took on Guy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson. Jacobson also began performing Oscar the Grouch after Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018. For his work on Sesame Street, Jacobson has been nominated for both a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2019, respectively.
Similarly for the Muppets, Jacobson began performing Miss Piggy in 2001. The following year, he began performing Fozzie Bear and Animal, debuting in those roles in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. He also began performing Sam Eagle beginning in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005). All the aforementioned characters were also previously performed by Oz, whom Jacobson consulted with to accurately portray the proper characterization, physicality, and voice for the characters.
In 2001, the same year that he worked on The Book of Pooh, where he performed as Piglet and Kanga, he also began playing Miss Piggy, debuting at the "Muppetfest" convention.
Other works
Jacobson performed Harry the Duck and other characters on Bear in the Big Blue House.
Outside of Henson, Jacobson has worked on The Puzzle Place, Jack's Big Music Show, and Disney's The Book of Pooh (plus a TV show called Once Upon a Tree, in which he performed Billy Bob the Bobcat). He also has performed on stage performing live puppet theater in New York City with The Puppet Company, The Cosmic Bicycle Theater, and The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park.
In 2013, Jacobson served as puppeteer for Shaggy Rogers (with Matthew Lillard serving as Shaggy's voice) for the DVD movie Scooby Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map.
Guest appearances
Jacobson performed Miss Piggy for appearances on Rove Live, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tony Danza Show, Good Morning America, This Morning, WWE Raw, Take Two with Phineas and Ferb, Good Luck Charlie, WWE Tribute to the Troops, and also performed Miss Piggy for an appearance in an episode of the Disney Channel Original Series So Random!.
Jacobson performed Grover during appearances on Good Morning Australia, Rove Live, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He performed Fozzie Bear during appearances on Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, @midnight, and Big City Greens (voice role as the character of Dr. Enamel). Jacobson performed Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal for an appearance on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Jacobson performed Bert for the character’s appearance in the Between the Lions' second season episode "Tweet! Tweet!".
Personal life
Jacobson is married to Mary Jacobson, who works as a production assistant on Sesame Street. His daughter's godfather also works on the show.
Credits
Year | Production | Role | Other notes |
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1994–present | Sesame Street | Bert (1997 – present), Grover (1998 – present), Guy Smiley (2005 – present), Oscar the Grouch (2015 – present) | Performer |
1995–1998 | The Puzzle Place | Leon MacNeal, Blue Piece Police | Season 3 (puppetry only) |
1996–1998 | Once Upon a Tree | Billy-Bob the Bobcat | Performer |
1997–2006 | Bear in the Big Blue House | Harry the Duck, Tucker Tutter | |
2001–2003 | The Book of Pooh | Piglet | Performer (puppetry only) |
2002 | It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Yoda | Performer |
2005 | The Muppets' Wizard of Oz | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | |
Jack's Big Music Show | Little Bad Wolf, Phil the Coo-Coo Bird | ||
2006–2011 | Pinky Dinky Doo | Additional voices | |
2007–2008 | Bunnytown | Super Bunny | Performer |
2008 | A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | |
Studio DC: Almost Live | |||
2008–2009 | Muppet YouTube Shorts | ||
2010 | The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Performer |
Disney's Honorary VoluntEars Cavalcade | Miss Piggy | Voice, theme park parade | |
2011 | So Random! | Performer, Episode: "Miss Piggy" | |
The Muppets | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Marvin Suggs | Performer | |
Take Two with Phineas and Ferb | Miss Piggy | Performer, Episode "Miss Piggy" | |
2013 | Good Luck Charlie | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal | Performer, Episode: "Duncan Dream House" |
Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map | Shaggy Rogers | Performer (puppetry only) | |
2014 | Nerdy Nummies | Miss Piggy | Performer |
Muppets Most Wanted | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle, Animal | ||
2015 | Muppet Moments | ||
2015–2016 | The Muppets | ||
2016–2019 | The Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle | Voices, theme park show |
2017 | The Muppets Take the Bowl | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Newsman | Performer, live show at the Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 8–10 |
2018 | The Muppets Take the O2 | Performer, live show at the UK, Jul. 13–14 | |
2019 | Big City Greens | Dr. Enamel | Voice role, Episode: "Hurty Tooth" Credited as Fozzie Bear with Jacobson credited as Fozzie Bear's "personal handyman" |
Muppet Babies Play Date | Miss Piggy (baby), Fozzie Bear (baby), Animal (baby) | Performer (puppetry only) | |
2020 | The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo | Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Two-Headed Monster (left head) | Performer |
Muppets Now | Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Sam Eagle, Animal | ||
2021 | Muppets Haunted Mansion | Performer, Halloween special for Disney+ | |
The Muppets' Christmas Caroling Coach | Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Sam Eagle | Voices, theme park show at Disneyland during Disney Merriest Nights | |
2023 | The Muppets Mayhem | Animal | Performer |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Refs |
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2011 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series | Sesame Street | Nominated | |
2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance | When You Wish Upon a Pickle: A Sesame Street Special | Nominated | |
2021 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Preschool Animated Program | The Monster at the End of This Story | Nominated | |
2023 | Children's and Family Emmy Awards | Outstanding Puppeteer Performance | The Muppets Mayhem | Nominated | |
Sesame Street | Nominated |