Eren Ozker (25 July 1948 – 25 February 1993) was a Turkish-American puppeteer and Muppet performer. She was one of the original performers during the first season of

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

's popular television series ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...

''.

Biography

Ozker was born in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, and grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA. She received a bachelor's degree in drama from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1970. Right after graduating, she toured with the National Shakespeare Company, appearing in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (Ophelia) and ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' (Jessica). She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

shortly afterward to perform in numerous off-Broadway productions, such as ''

The Master Builder ''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works. Performance The play was published ...

'', in which she portrayed Kaia Fosli. Reviews described her as "an Off-Broadway favorite" and as "a fire-cracker burning at both ends." In 1975, she joined the Hartman Theater Company for its first production, ''The Government Inspector'', meeting her future husband,

William Bogert William Bogert (January 24, 1936 – January 12, 2020) was an American character actor best known for his roles as Brandon Brindle on the TV series ''Small Wonder'' from 1985 to 1989, Kent Wallace, the host of ''Chappelle's Show''s '' Frontline' ...

, in the process during the original production of ''The Runner Stumbles''. In 1976, Ozker went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and joined the cast of ''

''. As the only full-time female Muppeteer on the show at the time, she performed most of the female characters. These included: *

Wanda Wanda is a female given name of Poland, Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends.Campbell, Mike"Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Wanda."''Behind the Name.'' Accessed on August 12, 2010. The name has long been po ...

- one-half of the singing duo ''Wayne and Wanda''. Their "wholesome, uplifting and decent" acts, as described by Sam the Eagle, were always cut short in disastrous circumstances. *

Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. Th ...

- mostly restricted to backstage appearances, Hilda was the wardrobe lady for the show with a Slavic accent. *

Janice Janice may refer to: * Janice (given name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) * ''Janice & Abbey'', a reality TV series * Processor codename of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android smartphone * Janice, Łódź Voivodes ...

- Ozker's most famous character, Janice is the guitarist for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, as taken over from

Fran Brill Fran Brill (born September 30, 1946) is an American retired actress and puppeteer, best known for her roles on ''Sesame Street'', as well as playing Sally Hayes in the Hal Ashby film '' Being There'' (1979), Dana Mardukas in the Martin Brest fi ...

. Of her three main characters, only Janice survived after Ozker left the show at the end of the first season. Janice was subsequently performed by Richard Hunt, Matt Vogel,

Brian Henson Brian Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, director, producer, voice actor and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963, in Ne ...

Tyler Bunch Tyler Bunch, also known as H.D. Quinn, is an American puppeteer, puppet designer, director, and actor. Career In addition to his work for the Jim Henson Company, Bunch has created and performed puppets for PBS, Nickelodeon and Disney's Th ...

and, most recently,

David Rudman David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Career David Rudman has been a ''Sesame Street'' Muppet performer since ...

. After performing in Henson productions ''

The Muppet Movie ''The Muppet Movie'' is a 1979 American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley, produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the fil ...

'' and ''

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas ''Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas'' is a 1977 television special directed by Jim Henson, based on the 1971 children's book of the same name by Russell Hoban. The special features an ensemble cast of Henson's Muppet characters as well as chara ...

'', Ozker retired from the Muppet scene and returned to the United States to focus on her family. Her last puppeteering performance was in the 1988 production of ''The Warrior Ant'' at the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Next Wave Festival. In 1989, Ozker founded and became chairwoman of the Puppeteers Caucus, a working group within the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. Ozker was presented the Joseph C. Riley award by the Guild in 1991 in recognition of her services to the industry. Ozker died on 25 February 1993, aged 44. Her husband, actor William Bogert, confirmed after her death that she died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Filmography

* ''

'' - Hilda, Wanda, Janice, Trumpet Girl, Talking House, Ghost, Additional Muppets * ''

'' - Gretchen Fox, Hetty Muskrat, Old Lady Possum, Mrs. Mink * ''

'' - Hilda, Gretchen Fox, Hetty Muskrat, Old Lady Possum, Mrs. Mink, Additional Muppets

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozker, Eren 1948 births 1993 deaths Muppet performers Turkish puppeteers American puppeteers University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Turkish emigrants to the United States People from Ankara People from Farmington Hills, Michigan Deaths from cancer in New York (state)