# Eric Jacobson

Eric Jacobson (born January 15, 1971) is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as Sesame Street characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney, and Jim Henson.
Since 1994, Jacobson has been a regular performer for Sesame Street, where he has received Daytime Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Since 2001, he has performed as part of the Muppets cast in several feature films and television series, including The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the ABC primetime television series, The Muppets (2015), and the Disney+ series, The Muppets Mayhem (2023).

## Career

Jacobson was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He was inspired to enter the field of puppeteering after the death of Jim Henson. In 1992, while attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he interned at the Jim Henson Company, working in the archival library. Jacobson earned his BFA from Tisch the following year.
Jacobson began his career as a puppeteer on Sesame Street in 1994, where he worked alongside Frank Oz, often performing the roles of Grover and Bert when Oz wasn't available. Following Oz's retirement from the roles, Jacobson became the characters' primary performer. Since 2005, he has performed Guy Smiley, a role previously performed by Henson. Following Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018, Jacobson became the full-time performer of Oscar the Grouch.
For his work on Sesame Street, Jacobson has been nominated for both a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2019, respectively.
For the Muppets, Jacobson began performing Miss Piggy in 2001, debuting at the "MuppetFest" fan convention. The following year, he began performing Fozzie Bear and Animal, debuting in the roles in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. In 2005, he also began performing Sam Eagle beginning in The 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.

### Other works

Beyond his work with Henson, Jacobson has contributed to several other children's television shows, including The Puzzle Place and Jack's Big Music Show. He has also performed live puppet theater with Basil Twist, The Puppet Company, The Cosmic Bicycle Theater, and The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park.
For Disney, Jacobson performed Harry the Duck on Bear in the Big Blue House and puppeteered Piglet on The Book of Pooh. In 2007, he served as both puppeteer and writer on Playhouse Disney's Bunnytown.
In 2013, Jacobson served as puppeteer for Shaggy Rogers for the DVD movie Scooby Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map, with Matthew Lillard providing Shaggy's voice.

## Personal life

Jacobson is married to Mary Jacobson, whom he met during her time as a production assistant on Sesame Street.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Production | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland | Bert | Assistant performer |
| 2002 | It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Yoda | Performer; Television film |
| 2005 | The Muppets' Wizard of Oz | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | Performer; Television film |
| 2008 | Abby in Wonderland | Grover, Bert | Performer; Direct-to-DVD film |
| 2008 | A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | Performer |
| 2011 | The Muppets | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Marvin Suggs | Performer |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map | Shaggy Rogers | Performer (puppetry only); Direct-to-DVD film |
| 2014 | Muppets Most Wanted | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle, Animal, Marvin Suggs | Performer |
| 2021 | Muppets Haunted Mansion | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle, Animal | Performer; Halloween special for Disney+ |

### Television

| Year(s) | Production | Role | Notes |
| 1994–present | Sesame Street | Bert (1997–present), Grover (1998–present), Guy Smiley (2005–present), Oscar the Grouch (2015–present) | Performer |
| 1996–1998 | Once Upon a Tree | Billy-Bob the Bobcat | Performer |
| 1998 | The Puzzle Place | Leon MacNeal, Blue Piece Police | Puppeteer (season 3) |
| 1997–2006 | Bear in the Big Blue House | Harry the Duck, Tucker Tutter | Performer |
| 2001 | Between the Lions | Bert | Performer, Episode: "Tweet! Tweet!" |
| 2001–2003 | The Book of Pooh | Piglet | Performer (puppetry only) |
| 2002–2007 | Play with Me Sesame | Bert, Grover | Performer |
| 2005, 2012 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Grover, Fozzie Bear, Animal | Performer; 3 episodes |
| 2005 | The Tony Danza Show | Miss Piggy | Performer; 3 episodes |
| 2005, 2007 | The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Performer; 2 episodes |
| 2005–2007 | Jack's Big Music Show | Little Bad Wolf, Phil the Coo-Coo Bird | Performer |
| 2005, 2011, 2014 | Live | Miss Piggy | Performer, 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Animal | Performer |
| 2006–2011 | Pinky Dinky Doo | Additional voices | |
| 2007–2008 | Bunnytown | Super Bunny, Green Cave Bunny, Royal Assistant Marvin, Captain Dan, Melvin | Performer (also writer) |
| 2008 | Studio DC: Almost Live | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | Performer |
| 2011 | So Random! | Miss Piggy | Performer, Episode: "Miss Piggy" |
| 2011 | Take Two with Phineas and Ferb | Miss Piggy | Performer, Episode: "Miss Piggy" |
| 2011 | Saturday Night Live | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Performer, Episode: "Jason Segal/Florence + The Machine" |
| 2011 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Miss Piggy | Performer; 1 episode |
| 2011, 2012 | WWE Raw | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal | Performer, 2 episodes |
| 2011, 2012 | WWE Tribute to the Troops | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle | Performer; Television special |
| 2013 | Good Luck Charlie | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal | Performer, Episode: "Duncan Dream House" |
| 2013 | Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | Performer; Television special |
| 2015–2016 | The Muppets | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Marvin Suggs | |
| 2019 | Drop the Mic | Miss Piggy | Performer; 1 episode |
| 2019 | Big City Greens | Dr. Enamel | Voice role, Episode: "Hurty Tooth" Credited as Fozzie Bear; Jacobson credited as Fozzie Bear's "personal handyman" |
| 2020 | The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo | Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Two-Headed Monster (left head) | Performer |
| 2020 | Muppets Now | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle, Animal | Performer |
| 2020 | The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special | Oscar the Grouch | Performer; Television special |
| 2022 | The Masked Singer | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal | Performer; Episode: "Muppets Night" |
| 2023 | The Muppets Mayhem | Animal | Performer |

### Video games

| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Sesame Street Sports | Grover | Voice role |
| 2003 | Muppets Party Cruise | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Voice role |
| 2011 | Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster | Grover | Voice role |
| 2011 | Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Grover! | Grover | Voice role |
| 2012 | Kinect Sesame Street TV | Bert, Grover, Guy Smiley | Voice role |

### Other appearances

| Year(s) | Production | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic | Grover, Bert | Performer, theme park film |
| 2008–2009 | Muppet YouTube Shorts | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle | Performer |
| 2010 | The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Performer, web series |
| 2010 | Disney's Honorary VoluntEars Cavalcade | Miss Piggy | Voice, theme park parade |
| 2013–2014 | Muppisodes | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear | Performer, web shorts |
| 2014 | Nerdy Nummies | Miss Piggy | Performer |
| 2016–2019 | The Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam Eagle | Voice, theme park show |
| 2017 | The Muppets Take the Bowl | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Newsman | Performer, live show at the Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 8–10 |
| 2018 | The Muppets Take the O2 | Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, Newsman | Performer, live show at the O2, Jul. 13–14 |
| 2019 | Muppet Babies Play Date | Miss Piggy (baby), Fozzie Bear (baby), Animal (baby) | Performer (puppetry only), web shorts |
| 2021 | The Muppets' Christmas Caroling Coach | Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Sam Eagle | Voice, theme park show |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2011 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series | Sesame Street | Nominated |
| 2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance | When You Wish Upon a Pickle: A Sesame Street Special | Nominated |
| 2021 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Preschool Animated Program | The Monster at the End of This Story | Nominated |
| 2023 | Children's and Family Emmy Awards | Outstanding Puppeteer Performance | The Muppets Mayhem | Nominated |
| 2023 | Children's and Family Emmy Awards | Outstanding Puppeteer Performance | Sesame Street | Nominated |