Steve Whitmire

Steven "Steve" Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer. He works for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and Disney's The Muppets Studio. He became and remains the current performer of Kermit the Frog, Ernie, and other characters in Sesame Street after Jim Henson's death in 1990. --- Whitmire first appeared on local Atlanta TV with his then alter-ego puppet Otis. WATL-TV was owned at that time by former Atlanta children's television host "Officer Don" Kennedy. Otis made appearances on various WATL 36 shows with Ludlow Porch, performing the Georgia Bulldogs Larry Munson, Don Kennedy and Entertainment Page host Artie Goodman. As Otis, Whitmire interviewed Olivia Newton-John during a tour promoting an album. Fellow '76 Berkmar High graduate John Scott Kemp recalls vividly Whitmire's remarkable musical skills and his family's proclivity for the performing arts: "I was director of the Talent Show our senior year and we needed an emcee. I'm not sure who asked who, but Steve wound up with the gig, doing (you guessed it) 'Kermit the frog'! I'm not sure if that was the first time or not." He worked with puppets after graduating high school, and he eventually got a job working on The Muppet Show in 1978. Since then, Whitmire has performed in almost every major Henson company project, including non-Muppet fare, such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth and Dinosaurs.