Matthew James Vogel (born October 6, 1970) is an American puppeteer, actor and director. Vogel has worked for

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

and

The Muppets Studio The Muppets Studio, LLC, formerly The Muppets Holding Company, LLC, is a wholly owned entertainment subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, formed in 2004 through The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of ''The Muppets'' and ''Bear i ...

. He has performed for

the Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

, ''

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) a ...

'', and '' Oobi''. He has been the performer of Kermit the Frog since 2017 and the full-time performer of Big Bird since 2018.

Career

Vogel first auditioned for the Jim Henson Company in 1993 and joined the crew of ''Sesame Street'' in 1996 as an ensemble puppeteer. He has served as a director and puppet captain on ''Sesame Street'' since 2008. He inherited many of Jerry Nelson's Muppet character roles in 2008, when he began performing with

. Since 2017, he has been the performer of Kermit the Frog. With the Muppets, Vogel is one of the principal cast performers with the roles of Kermit, Floyd Pepper, Uncle Deadly, Lew Zealand,

Crazy Harry The Muppets are an ensemble group of comedic puppet characters originally created by Jim Henson. The Muppets have appeared in multiple television series, films, and other media appearances since the 1950s. The majority of the characters listed ...

Robin the Frog The Muppets are an ensemble group of comedic puppet characters originally created by Jim Henson. The Muppets have appeared in multiple television series, films, and other media appearances since the 1950s. The majority of the characters listed ...

(until 2017 when Peter Linz took over to allow Kermit and Robin to still be in scenes together),

Sweetums The Muppets are an ensemble group of comedic puppet characters originally created by Jim Henson. The Muppets have appeared in multiple television series, films, and other media appearances since the 1950s. The majority of the characters listed ...

Camilla the Chicken The Muppets are an ensemble group of comedic puppet characters originally created by Jim Henson. The Muppets have appeared in multiple television series, films, and other media appearances since the 1950s. The majority of the characters listed ...

, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Pops, '80s Robot and

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...

under his tutelage. On ''Sesame Street'', Vogel is the performer of Big Bird,

Count von Count Count von Count (known simply as the Count) is a Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is meant to parody Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. He first appeared on the show in the Season 4 premiere ...

and Mr. Johnson as well as Biff, Herb the Dinosaur, Hansel, Forgetful Jones, Sherlock Hemlock and one of the Yip-Yip Martians. He also performs Alex, a Muppet whose father is in jail, for the ''Sesame Street in Communities'' initiative page on incarceration. On '' Oobi'', he performed

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

. Beginning his puppeteering career at the Jim Henson Company in the 1990s, Vogel later served as the assistant puppeteer for Ernie on ''Sesame Street'', performing with Steve Whitmire. After studying the role of Big Bird under the performance of Caroll Spinney since 1996, he inherited the role in 2015, explaining "It takes a lot of physical exertion" and "I'm wearing the body of the bird". Spinney remarked that "Vogel" is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

translation for "bird". He also took over the puppetry of the ''Sesame Street'' character Count von Count, and also the voice after Nelson died in 2012. With The Muppets Studio, Vogel has been performing since 2008, and has appeared in ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

'', '' Muppets Most Wanted'', and a short-lived primetime series. Vogel performed the Muppets that were used in Kenneth's view of the world in the ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'' episode "

Apollo, Apollo "Apollo, Apollo" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 52nd episode of the series overall. It was written by executive producer Robert Carlock and directed by Millicent Shelton. The ...

". In 2016, Vogel voiced the character, Wilkins in '' Alice Through the Looking Glass'' directed by

James Bobin James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on ''Da Ali G Show'' and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created ''Flight of the Conchords''. He direc ...

. From 2017 onward, Vogel was cast as the new performer for Kermit the Frog, replacing Whitmire. His first official performance as Kermit was a "Muppets Thought of the Week" segment uploaded on the Muppets' official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in August 2017. In 2021, Vogel performed Kermit the Frog when he competed on

season five A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' as "Snail" and was the first to be eliminated.

Personal life

Vogel is originally from

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of the ...

. He was a fan of both ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'' as a boy. Vogel interned at Messner Puppet Theater in his home town where he played his first role of Victor Frankenstein in Paul Mesner Puppets’ “Frankenstein” in 1993. After 1993, he moved from Kansas City to New York. Vogel has been married to his wife Kelly C. McDonnell since August 31, 1997; together they have five children.

Filmography

Other appearances

References

External links