Dave Goelz

Dave Goelz (born July 16, 1946) is a puppeteer best known for his association with The Muppets, and in particular with the Muppet character The Great Gonzo. His other Muppet characters include Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot (the saxophonist of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem), Beauregard the stagehand and Tiny (the giant chicken in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland) . He also performed the characters of Boober Fraggle and Uncle Travelling Matt on Fraggle Rock. He also performed the puppetry for various characters, including Sir Didymus and Wiseman's Hat (both voiced by David Shaughnessy) in Labyrinth. Outside of puppeteering, he is the current voice actor for the Disney character Figment. After Jim Henson died in 1990, Goelz took over puppeteering Waldorf in 1992. --- Born in Los Angeles, California, Goelz had an interest in puppetry as a child, including an affinity for the children's television show Time for Beany, but after high school, attended the Los Angeles Art Center's College of Design and began work as an industrial designer. The mechanically-minded Goelz worked for such companies as John Deere, American Airlines, and Hewlett Packard. However, when Sesame Street premiered, he was fascinated by the craftsmanship, as he recalled in a Muppet Central interview: "I had been a Muppet fan for many years, but now I started getting fascinated with the design process that went into what I was seeing on the screen. Who were these people who created the puppets, costumes and performances that were so evocative? I got very curious." While working full-time for an electronics firm, Goelz began dabbling with puppet building.