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Eric Jacobson
Jacobson atSan Diego Comic-Con in 2015
Born	(1971-01-15)January 15, 1971 (age 54) Fort Worth,Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Mary Jacobson
Children	2

Eric Jacobson (born January 15, 1971)^[1] is an Americanpuppeteer. He is best known for his involvement withthe Muppets, performingMiss Piggy,Fozzie Bear,Animal, andSam Eagle forThe Muppets Studio, as well asSesame Street charactersBert,Grover,Oscar the Grouch, andGuy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers,Frank Oz,Caroll Spinney, andJim Henson.^[2][3]

Since 1994, Jacobson has been a regular performer forSesame Street, where he has receivedDaytime Emmy Award andPrimetime Emmy Award nominations. Since 2001, he has performed as part of the Muppets cast in several feature films and television series, includingThe Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005),The Muppets (2011),Muppets Most Wanted (2014), theABC primetime television series,The Muppets (2015), and theDisney+ series,The Muppets Mayhem (2023).^[4]

Jacobson was born inFort Worth, Texas. He was inspired to enter the field of puppeteering after the death ofJim Henson.^[1][5] In 1992, while attendingNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts, he interned atthe Jim Henson Company, working in the archival library.^[2][5][6] Jacobson earned his BFA from Tisch the following year.

Jacobson began his career as a puppeteer onSesame Street in 1994, where he worked alongsideFrank Oz,^[7] often performing the roles ofGrover andBert when Oz wasn't available.^[8][9] Following Oz's retirement from the roles, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer.^[10] Since 2005, he has performedGuy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson.^[11] FollowingCaroll Spinney's retirement in 2018, Jacobson became the full-time performer ofOscar the Grouch.^[3]

For his work onSesame Street, Jacobson has been nominated for both aDaytime Emmy Award forOutstanding Performer in Children's Programming and aPrimetime Emmy Award forOutstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2019, respectively.^[8][12]

Forthe Muppets, Jacobson began performingMiss Piggy in 2001, debuting at the "MuppetFest" fan convention.^[13] The following year, he began performingFozzie Bear andAnimal, debuting in the roles inIt's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. In 2005, he also began performingSam Eagle beginning inThe Muppets' Wizard of Oz. The aforementioned characters were also previously performed by Oz, whom Jacobson consulted with to accurately portray the proper characterization, physicality, and voice for the characters.^[9]

Beyond his work with Henson, Jacobson has contributed to several other children's television shows, includingThe Puzzle Place andJack's Big Music Show. He has also performed live puppet theater withBasil Twist, The Puppet Company, The Cosmic Bicycle Theater, and The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park.^[14]

ForDisney, Jacobson performed Harry the Duck onBear in the Big Blue House and puppeteeredPiglet onThe Book of Pooh.^[14] In 2007, he served as both puppeteer and writer onPlayhouse Disney'sBunnytown.^[15][16]

In 2013, Jacobson served as puppeteer forShaggy Rogers for the DVD movieScooby Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map, withMatthew Lillard providing Shaggy's voice.

Jacobson is married to Mary Jacobson, whom he met during her time as a production assistant onSesame Street.^[9]

• Eric Jacobson atIMDb
• Bunnytown

• Living people
• People from Fort Worth, Texas
• American puppeteers
• American male voice actors

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