Elmo Elmo is a furry red Muppet monster with an orange nose who lives on Sesame Street . He is self - described as 3 - and - a - half years old , and almost always refers to himself in the third person . The character ' s popularity led to his own segments on " Sesame Street " including " Elmo ' s World " and " Elmo the Musical " . Character background . Elmo lives in an apartment on Sesame Street with his mother Mae , his father Louie , and , in some storybooks , a sister named Daisy . He has a pet goldfish named Dorothy . Other relatives in Elmo ' s family include his grandma and grandpa ; his great - grandmother ( featured in a 1989 episode ) and his great - grandfather ( named Selmo ) ; his Uncle Jack , Aunt Jill and cousin Jesse ( featured in " When Families Grieve " ) ; plus additional cousins Elmer ( featured in " Kids ' Favorite Country Songs " ) and Chester ( featured in " Here For You " ) . Additionally , the television special " Sesame Street Stays Up Late " shows Elmo ' s " international " cousins — Pepé from Mexico and Elmonosuke from Japan . As seen in " The Furchester Hotel " , he also has an aunt Funella Furchester , an uncle Furgus Fuzz , and a cousin Phoebe Furchester - Fuzz . Elmo ' s early childhood has been shown with Elmo as a 13 - month - old infant in the " Sesame Beginnings " video series and in flashbacks shown in " Elmo ' s Potty Time " and " Bye Bye Binky . " According to a Q & A video , his favorite food is wasabi ; that ' s why he has no eyelids . This has been reaffirmed on " Rove Live " and in other interviews , along with the Muppet bios published in several Sesame Workshop press kits . In 2000 , Elmo told Donnie and Marie Osmond that his mother and father tell him to never " hate " any food , but he makes an exception for Brussels sprouts , Marie decided to taunt him with a bowl of them . Brussels sprouts have often been listed among Elmo ' s pet peeves in press kit bios . As with many children of his age , Elmo is seen somewhat infrequently with a favorite toy of his : an orange monster - like doll named Baby David . In the film " The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland " , Elmo is devoted to his blue blanket , Blanket . Elmo ' s birthday is February 3rd . Sesame Workshop describes the character as : Origins . The puppet that would eventually become Elmo was designed in 1979 by Caroly Wilcox . Intended as a generic background monster , he appeared as an extra in several sketches and , for a time , had no consistent performer , being taken up by different puppeteers . Labels used for the AM monster during this time before he was named include " baby monster " , " short red " ( in Wilcox ' s sketch ) , and " little red " ( on exhibit at Center for Puppetry Arts , Worlds of Puppetry , Jim Henson Collection ) . Elmo first appeared on " Sesame Street " specifically as " Elmo " in Season 12 where he was performed by Brian Muehl . The character was originally conceived as one who would communicate with sounds rather than words . After Muehl ' s departure in 1984 , the character was briefly re - cast to Richard Hunt , who performed Elmo with a gruff caveman voice and a rowdy persona . Hunt was not comfortable with performing Elmo and felt the character was not working . One day , frustrated with the role , Hunt came into the studio ' s green room and literally tossed the puppet to Kevin Clash and asked what he could get out of it . Clash gave Elmo his recognizable falsetto , and while trying to find a " hook " for the character , decided that Elmo should embody love . Clash said , " I knew that Elmo should represent love - just kissing and hugging . " Clash cites a season 17 scene in which Elmo packs for an imaginary vacation as the moment when he " found his voice " as Elmo . Writer David Korr took a liking to the character , and backed up with positive research , started utilizing Elmo regularly . Popularity . Elmo appeared in an episode of " The Torkelsons " in 1991 and had occasional guest spots on " The Frugal Gourmet " . In the mid - 1990s , Elmo became a regular guest on " The Rosie O ' Donnell Show " , appearing more than a dozen times between 1996 and 2002 . The Tickle Me Elmo doll was manufactured in his likeness , and became the must - have toy during the 1996 Christmas season ; and subsequent variations and other Elmo dolls ( such as Chicken Dance Elmo , Let ' s Rock ! Elmo , Elmo Live , and Big Hugs Elmo ) have also been successful . Elmo has also been prominently featured in many home videos including " Elmo ' s Sing - Along Guessing Game " , " Elmo Says BOO ! " , " Elmo ' s Magic Cookbook " , and " Elmo ' s Potty Time " , and has starred in many television specials such as " Elmopalooza " , " Elmo Saves Christmas " , " The Street We Live On " and " Elmo ' s Christmas Countdown " . Additionally , Elmo was the star of the 1999 full - length , theatrically released motion picture " The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland " . In 1994 , Elmo had a " Best of " video released ; a sequel , " The Best of Elmo 2 " , was released in 2010 , and a third installment , " The Best of Elmo 3 " , followed in 2015 . A " Best of " album was also released in 1997 . He stars in the recurring " Sesame Street " segments Elmo ' s World and Elmo the Musical . Additionally , he has performed such songs as " Elmo ' s Song , " " Happy Tappin ' with Elmo , " " In Your Imagination , " " Elmo ' s Rap Alphabet , " " Elmo ' s Ducks , " and " The Elmo Slide . " Elmo has also appeared as a main character in several , including " 5 , Rue Sésame " in France , " Sesamgade " in Denmark , " Sesamstrasse " in Germany , " Sesamstraat " in the Netherlands and in the British co - production " The Furchester Hotel " . Kermit Love felt he knew part of the character ' s reason for success : " Elmo is popular because Elmo is red . " Elmo ' s " CinderElmo " co - star French Stewart lists the three - year - old monster ' s acting talents behind only Pacino , Brando and Streep , while Oliver Platt says he is a " giving actor . " Third - person speech . Elmo characteristically avoids pronouns , referring to himself in the third person ( e . g . " Elmo has a question " rather than , " I have a question " ) . In its FAQ on its website , Sesame Workshop responded to the allegation that Elmo referring to himself in the third person will teach children improper English , stating that : While Elmo almost always speaks in third - person , his dialogue has broken this rule on occasion , such as in song or via indirect comments . When appearing on " Late Night with Jimmy Fallon " , Elmo sang a few lines of a Jennifer Hudson song , only after realizing he sang the word " me " . At the Muppets , Music & Magic event at The Cinema Arts Centre in August 2007 , Elmo joked that the reason he speaks in the third person is that he gets paid for each time he says " Elmo . " Elmo tweeted about his third - person speaking in March 2010 ; " Someone just told Elmo yesterday was Talk in Third Person Day . Elmo doesn ' t know what that is but it sounds fun . Can Elmo play ? " At The Paley Center for Media screening of " " , a member of the audience asked him why he spoke in third person . Elmo ( after jokingly threatening the audience member ) replied that " it ' s just the way Elmo talks . " Behind the scenes . In 2011 , there were either eight or nine different Elmo puppets . Kevin Clash told Channel Newsasia that " this one [ on my lap ] is rodded . There ' s a full radio - controlled Elmo , there ' s one for the blue screen , etc . They do different things . " In later years , there has been a live - hand variant of Elmo , used in episodes like episode 4206 and specials like " " Additionally , dozens of Elmo variants have been created by the Muppet Workshop ( now , Jim Henson ' s Creature Shop ) almost exclusively for use in the Tickle Me Land segments of " Elmo ' s World " as figments of Dorothy ' s imagination . These creations build on the basic premise of the Elmo puppet , to create a unique design which displays a variation of Elmo as anything from a rock to an elephant , to even a male doctor and female nurse . After Clash ' s departure . Kevin Clash ' s tenure as the character ended in 2012 following his resignation from Sesame Workshop . Portions of season 44 had already been filmed prior to Clash ' s departure , leaving some of his performances as Elmo featured throughout the 2013 - 2014 season of " Sesame Street " . Clash also filmed an Elmo appearance for the special " " , recorded Elmo ' s vocals for the 2012 Macy ' s Parade and for the Big Hugs Elmo doll released in 2013 . His last known public performance of Elmo was during a radio interview with WNYC on October 30 , 2012 ( twenty days before his official resignation from Sesame Workshop ) . Sesame Workshop released a statement regarding Clash ' s departure on November 12 , 2012 , a portion of which read : " Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of " Sesame Street " to engage , educate and inspire children around the world , as it has for 40 years . " Ryan Dillon has since taken over the character . Dillon first appeared publicly as Elmo at the White House Easter Egg Roll in April 2013 and has continued to perform the character in new appearances and productions ; including in multiple segments for season 44 , and into season 45 . Immediately following Clash ' s departure , Peter Linz voiced the character for a recording commissioned for a walk - around version of Elmo for an event at Universal Studios Singapore , however , Linz stated the recording was a one - time performance . See also . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _