William Paul Barretta (born June 19, 1964) is an American puppeteer, actor, producer, writer, and director, who is best known for providing the puppetry and voice of characters such as Pepe the King Prawn,

Johnny Fiama 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 ...

, Big Mean Carl, and

Bobo the Bear 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 ...

. He also inherited the roles of Rowlf the Dog,

The Swedish Chef The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on ''The Muppet Show''. He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character with real hands. The S ...

, Mahna Mahna, and Dr. Teeth after the death of

Muppet 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 ...

creator Jim Henson.

Early life

Barretta was born William Paul Barretta in

Yardley, Pennsylvania Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Yardley borders the Delaware River and Ewing, New Jersey to its east and Lower Makefield Township to its north, west, and south. The United States Post Office assigns many addresses in Lower ...

on June 19, 1964. He is the younger brother of the children's book author and illustrator Gene Barretta. Barretta attended St. Mary's Hall-Doane Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, eventually becoming a carpenter. He met Brian Henson while they were working at Sesame Place.

Career

Barretta has been performing with The Muppets since 1991, when he puppeteered the body of Sinclair family patriarch, Earl Sinclair on ''

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the ...

''. He later developed several new characters on '' Muppets Tonight'', including Pepe the King Prawn,

, Big Mean Carl, and

. Barretta has taken over several of Jim Henson's roles, such as Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Mahna Mahna, and

Swedish Chef The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on '' The Muppet Show''. He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character with real hands. The ...

, and briefly took over Jerry Nelson's role of Lew Zealand. His film debut as a principal puppeteer was in 1996's '' Muppet Treasure Island'' as Clueless Morgan. Barretta has produced two of the Muppets' television films, ''

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie ''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie'' is a 2002 American musical fantasy comedy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher and written by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis. The film premiered November 29, 2002 on NBC and the first film to be ...

'' (2002) and '' The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' (2005). Barretta also provided additional voices on ''

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy-Adventure fiction, adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teen ...

''. He performed in '' Muppets Most Wanted'', where he also served as a co-producer. Barretta also served as an executive producer on the ABC series, '' The Muppets''. In 2021, Barretta produced the special '' Muppets Haunted Mansion''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Internet

Events

References

External links

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MuppetZine Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barretta, Bill Living people People from Yardley, Pennsylvania Muppet performers Sesame Street Muppeteers American male voice actors American puppeteers Doane Academy alumni 1964 births