Leslie Carrara, sometimes credited as Leslie Carrara-Rudolph or the misspelling Leslie Carrera-Rudolph, is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

performer The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...

, puppeteer,

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and artist. She is probably best known as a

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are ...

performer on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', most notably playing

Abby Cadabby Abby Cadabby, mostly referred to as just Abby, is a Muppet character on the PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street'', performed by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph. On August 14, 2006, Abby made her debut in the first episode of ''Sesame Stre ...

. She is also known for her original characters, including Lolly Lardpop. She is also a voice actress, creates artwork and performs in cabaret.

Career

Rudolph is known for performing the fairy

on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

/ HBO series ''

'', for which she was nominated for a 2009 Emmy Award for best performer in a children's series. She is also known for her puppeteer role as Ginger on the Disney Channel preschool series ''

Johnny and the Sprites ''Johnny and the Sprites'' is an American children's musical television show that aired every weekend on the "Playhouse Disney" block on Disney Channel. The show was created by, produced by, and starred John Tartaglia (most famous for his work o ...

''. She performed the

, Jesse for ''Sesame Street''s military outreach project ''Touch, Listen, and Connect'', which starred

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...

. Rudolph plays various Muppet characters, besides Abby, on ''Sesame Street'' and has voiced animated characters and played live-action characters on the show. She got her start on ABC's ''

Muppets Tonight ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of ''The Jim Henson Hour'' (1989), the show was a contin ...

'' as Spamela Hamderson and Darci. Other puppeteering credits include Edi the Zebra on '' Jim Henson's Animal Jam'' and the evil, blonde-haired vampire puppet in the movie ''

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released b ...

''. Rudolph is one of the founding members of the Henson improv group ''

Puppet Up! ''Puppet Up! – Uncensored'' is a Adult live puppet musical show produced by The Jim Henson Company combining puppetry and improvisational comedy created by Brian Henson and Groundlings performer Patrick Bristow. The show is advertised for "ad ...

'', which was later retitled as Stuffed and Unstrung. She was part of the improv cast for its debut at the Aspen Comedy Festival. She toured with them to the comedy festival in Australia and was a cast member for the off-Broadway show at the Union Square Theater. She also played the main role of Blue, the female blue puppy in Nick Jr.'s ''

Blue's Room ''Blue's Room'' is an American puppet television series spin-off from ''Blue's Clues''. It was created by Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero. The show aired on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block, and it started out as short segments ...

''. Her original character Lolly Lardpop has a musical comedy CD out called ''Sunkinsass''. Rudolph portrayed the human children's show star Miss Poppy in the satirical play ''Pigeon-Holed'', written by ''Sesame Street'' writer Annie Evans and ''Sesame Street'' puppeteer regulars. She does regular voiceover work, including characters in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', ''

Ratchet & Clank ''Ratchet & Clank'' is a series of action platformer and third-person shooter video games. The franchise was created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation consoles, such as PlayStation ...

'', and the English dub of the anime ''

Zatch Bell ''Zatch Bell!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' between January 2001 and December 2007, with ...

''. She has a BA degree from San Francisco State University in her major "Child Development Through the Arts". When she is not performing, she illustrates children's books and paints. Rudolph performs an original, candy-obsessed character, Lolly, in several clubs and events in New York and Los Angeles, and works in children's outreach programs. Carrara-Rudolph released a Lolly children's CD called ''Spunkinsass''. Rudolph has written and produced several one-woman shows. Her latest musical, ''Entertaining a Thought'', which was developed at the 2009 Ojai Play Write Conference, recently received a Jim Henson Foundation Grant and a 2009–2010 UNIMA Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry. She just finished a run of her newest interactive show, ''Wake Up Your Weird'', at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. The show she created for the Disney company, ''The Wahoo Wagon'', ran for six months at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood and featured all of her original characters. Some of Rudolph's voiceover credits include the voice of Peg Puppy for Nickelodeon's animated series ''

T.U.F.F. Puppy ''T.U.F.F. Puppy'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010, on Nickelodeon along with '' Planet Sheen'', which premiered a half hour earlier. ''T.U.F.F. Puppy'' is Hartma ...

'', and additional voices for ''

'' and for ''

The Electric Company (2009 TV series) ''The Electric Company'' is an American television series produced by Sesame Workshop and developed by Karen Fowler. It is a reboot of the 1971 series of the same name. The series ran on PBS Kids Go! from January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011, w ...

'', for which she voices Wolfman, Bat, and Mummy. She joined the cast of the podcast series '' The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd'' in the season 3 premiere and has guest-starred several times since. She plays the character Bubbles in '' Splash and Bubbles''. She was an additional puppeteer in ''

Julie's Greenroom ''Julie's Greenroom'' is an American educational pre-school television series that was released on Netflix on March 17, 2017. Characters * Miss Julie (portrayed by Julie Andrews) – The director of the Wellspring Center for the Performing Arts ...

''.

Filmography

* ''

'' - Spamela Hamderson, Darci, Shirley, Dorothy Bovine, Belle the Bubble Mom, Additional Muppets * '' The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss'' - Little Cat A, Morton the Elephant Bird, Princess Tizz, Additional Muppets * '' Animal Jam'' - Edi the Zebra * ''

'' - Blue * ''

'' - Ginger * ''

'' -

, Lotta Chatter, Rosa, Sleeping Beauty, Virginia Virginia, Mrs. Grouch (episode 4237), Tango, Additional Muppets * ''

'' - Peg Puppy (voice) * ''Frances'' - Mom (voice) * '' Rugrats: All Grown Up'' - Myron (voice) * '' Poochini's Yard'' - Wendy White (voice) * '' Splash and Bubbles'' - Bubbles, Flo * '' Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal'' - Sasha Phyronix

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrara-Rudolph, Leslie Living people American women singers American puppeteers American voice actresses Muppet performers Place of birth missing (living people) Sesame Street Muppeteers Year of birth missing (living people)