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 Pepino Rodrigo Serrano Gonzales, better known as Pepe the King Prawn, is a Muppet character created for ''Muppets Tonight'' and performed by Bill Barretta, originally as part of a vaudeville double act with Seymour the Elephant. Overview Pepe ...

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 Rowlf the Dog is a Muppet character, a scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. He was created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Rowlf is the Muppet Theatre's resident pianist on ''The Muppe ...

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 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 ...

creator

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 ...

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 Ma ...

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 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 ...

while they were working at Sesame Place.

Career

Barretta has been performing with

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 ...

since 1991, when he puppeteered the body of Sinclair family patriarch, Earl Sinclair on '' Dinosaurs''. He later developed several new characters on ''

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 ...

'', including

, Big Mean Carl, and

. Barretta has taken over several of

's roles, such as Dr. Teeth,

, Mahna Mahna, and Swedish Chef, and briefly took over

Jerry Nelson Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ' ...

's role of Lew Zealand. His film debut as a principal puppeteer was in 1996's ''

Muppet Treasure Island ''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American musical swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson. It is the fifth theatrical film in ''The Muppets'' franchise. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson, ...

'' 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 ''The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' is a 2005 musical fantasy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher. It is the second film to be made for television in ''The Muppets'' franchise. The film stars Ashanti, Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino, Davi ...

'' (2005). Barretta also provided additional voices on '' Kim Possible''. He performed in ''

Muppets Most Wanted ''Muppets Most Wanted'' is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the film is a sequel to ''The Muppets'' (2011) and sta ...

'', where he also served as a co-producer. Barretta also served as an executive producer on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series, ''

''. In 2021, Barretta produced the special ''

Muppets Haunted Mansion ''Muppets Haunted Mansion'' is a 2021 American puppet supernatural comedy Halloween special based on the Disney properties The Muppets and The Haunted Mansion. It was released on October 8, 2021, via Disney+. It is the Muppets' first Halloween s ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Internet

Events

References

External links

*
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