Steve Whitmire Steve Whitmire ( b . September 24 , 1959 ) is a puppeteer who started working for The Jim Henson Company on March 24 , 1978 ( his 18½ birthday ) . His career with the Muppets began on " The Muppet Show " , where he developed his first major character , Rizzo the Rat . Other main characters included Bean Bunny and , on " Fraggle Rock " , Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket . When Jim Henson passed away in 1990 , Whitmire was selected to take over the roles of Kermit the Frog and Ernie . Following Richard Hunt ' s death and Jerry Nelson ' s retirement , he took over the roles of Beaker and Statler , respectively . His wife , Melissa Whitmire , has also puppeteered on occasion . In July 2017 it was reported that Whitmire ' s tenure with The Muppets had ended in October 2016 , and that Matt Vogel would take over performing duties of Kermit the Frog . Early Years . Born near Atlanta , Georgia , Steve Whitmire became interested in puppetry in his childhood , around the time that " Sesame Street " began airing in 1969 . Whitmire recalled , " I wrote a letter to Jim Henson at the time , and he wrote back . It ' s an amazing thing for a ten - year - old to get a letter back from a TV star . " Building on that early enthusiasm , Whitmire created his own puppets and performed throughout high school , even winning the school talent show on one occasion . After graduating high school , he briefly puppeteered at local theme park The World of Sid and Marty Krofft , performing his own character Otis the Beach Bum , and later co - hosted " The Kid ' s Show " with his best friend Gary Koepke for WATL in Atlanta , which was nominated for a state Emmy Award . Whitmire first made contact with the Muppets through Caroll Spinney , whom he met at the Southeastern Regional Puppetry Festival in 1977 . That fall , Spinney informed Whitmire that auditions were being held for puppeteers for " Sesame Street " ; upon calling the Henson offices , Whitmire learned that Jane Henson was coming to Atlanta the following week to inspect the Kermit balloon for the Macy ' s Thanksgiving Day Parade and that she could meet with him while there . After seeing Whitmire perform , she recommended him to Jim Henson , who eventually formally auditioned him and asked him to join the performers on " The Muppet Show " . His first day of performing was March 24 , 1978 . From Right - Handing to Regular . Whitmire slowly became a major performer . On " The Muppet Show " , he often performed one - shot characters , right hands , and filled in when two of another performer ' s characters were in the same scene ( for example , if Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy were in a scene together , Whitmire would generally perform Fozzie ) . He was given his own recurring characters , such as Foo - Foo , Rizzo the Rat , and Lips , all of whom were minor characters on " The Muppet Show " , with very little dialogue . Whitmire became one of the core Muppet performers since performing on " The Muppet Show " and received his own major characters on " Fraggle Rock " , where he performed Sprocket and Wembley Fraggle , and the semi - recurring role of Marlon Fraggle . He would also add more characters to his repertoire over the years , performing many roles on " The Jim Henson Hour " , and Rizzo the Rat would gradually become a core member of the main cast . The 1980s . Following the end of " The Muppet Show " , Whitmire continued to work within the Henson fold . He performed the Skeksis Scientist in " The Dark Crystal " , and was one of only 2 puppeteers who both operated and voiced his characters , the other being Brian Muehl . ( Jerry Nelson also did vocal work on the movie , but did not puppeteer . ) Whitmire commented on this : Whitmire also puppeteered for the 1986 Henson film " Labyrinth " , and starred as Mew in the television special " The Christmas Toy " . In " The Tale of the Bunny Picnic " , he performed the special ' s protagonist , Bean Bunny . Bean Bunny would soon go on to become a main character , starting with " The Jim Henson Hour " , for which Whitmire also performed a variety of other characters , including Flash and Waldo C . Graphic . He also appeared on - screen as himself in " " . Television Work in the 1990s . Whitmire performed many characters on " Dinosaurs " , most notably B . P . Richfield and the face of Robbie Sinclair ( with voices later looped ) and was also heard as various one - shot hand puppet characters , such as Mr . Mason Dixon . Following the end of the series in 1994 , he was paired with Dave Goelz as the title duo on " Jim Henson ' s Animal Show with Stinky and Jake " , playing Jake and various other characters . In addition to reprising Kermit , Rizzo , and Beaker on " Muppets Tonight " , Whitmire also performed the regular roles of Andy Pig and Mr . Poodlepants . Continuing Kermit and Others . Steve Whitmire took on the role of Kermit the Frog after the death of Jim Henson , starting in " The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson " . Although " The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson " was his first on - screen performance as Kermit , he considers " The Muppet Christmas Carol " to be his first real production as Kermit . Later , Whitmire learned that there was consideration of him performing Kermit even before Henson ' s death : When it was decided that Steve Whitmire would take over as the frog , Heather Henson arranged for a Kermit puppet to be sent to Atlanta for Whitmire to practice performing . Whitmire thought that the puppet smelled like Jim Henson , and although he put the puppet on once , he couldn ' t get himself to go near it and try out a voice for months . Eventually , Brian Henson called and asked him to do something with Kermit , record it on tape , and send it to him , so Whitmire performed Kermit singing " Bein ' Green . " Regarding his first performance as Kermit , Whitmire has said : One of the hardest things that Steve Whitmire had to do in " The Muppet Christmas Carol " was pre - record Kermit ' s voice for all of the songs first , as he recalled in an interview with Muppet Central : After Richard Hunt ' s death , he took over as Beaker : Whitmire joined " Sesame Street " in 1993 , when it was decided to permanently recast Ernie , although Jim Henson had originally auditioned him for the series years earlier . His first performance as Ernie was with Bert , and he transitioned into the role on a more regular basis . Although John Tartaglia substituted during the second season of " Play With Me Sesame " , Whitmire continued to perform Ernie until Billy Barkhurst took over in 2014 . According to Whitmire , In contrast to his regular " Sesame Street " work as Ernie , Whitmire ' s performances as Kermit the Frog were much less frequent on the show . Among the notable exceptions are sketch where Kermit teaches Grover the difference between light and dark ( Episode 3784 ) , Kermit reporting on Slimey landing on the moon ( Episode 3740 ) , Kermit reporting on Slimey returning home ( Episode 3785 ) , in the song " Everybody Be Yo ' Self " and reporting on the hurricane that hit Sesame Street ( Episode 3976 ) . Whitmire has , however , performed Kermit in the " Sesame Street " specials " Elmopalooza " , " Elmo Saves Christmas " , " CinderElmo " , and the direct - to - video " The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street " . In the early 2000s , he started performing Statler , beginning with the Weezer music video " Keep Fishin ' . " Whitmire puppeteered him in " It ' s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie " while Jerry Nelson looped the voice later ; one of Whitmire ' s lines , " Historical landmark , " remained un - looped . Following Nelson ' s retirement from the role , Steve Whitmire took over as Statler ( with the notable exception of " Statler & Waldorf : From the Balcony " , where Drew Massey assumed the role from the eight episode onward ) . In an interview , Whitmire talked about playing Statler : In 2008 , new Muppet video content was added to Disney Extreme Digital , where in addition to continuing to perform Kermit and Rizzo , Steve Whitmire also took over as the Newsman . In September 2009 , Whitmire took an unexpected leave from performing Kermit , for appearances on " America ' s Got Talent " and the MTV Video Music Awards . Kermit was briefly performed by Artie Esposito in these instances . Whitmire returned to the role at a press conference for Give a Day . Get a Disney Day . Beginning in 2006 , Whitmire ' s availability for " Sesame Street " had somewhat lessened due to his commitment to projects with The Muppets Studio . However , he performed Ernie on several Ready to Learn PSA ' s , " Elmo ' s Christmas Countdown " , " Abby in Wonderland " , " Count on Sports " , the TomTom behind - the - scenes video , and on " Sesame Street " at least once a year from 2010 to 2014 . He also performed Kermit for his cameo in . Whitmire has stated that he doesn ' t think he could have taken over Jim Henson ' s characters if he had not worked with Henson for so many years . Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz . As acknowledged by Whitmire in interviews , he and Dave Goelz work very well together . The aforementioned Bunsen and Beaker pairing was not the only time the two would work together as a team . On " Fraggle Rock " , Whitmire ' s Wembley often found himself paired off with Goelz as Boober , and they played Mew and Rugby respectively in " The Christmas Toy " . Gonzo and Rizzo have become an almost inseparable team over the years , beginning with " The Muppet Christmas Carol " . In the same film , Goelz and Whitmire were paired as Betina and Belinda Cratchit , doing variations of Frank Oz ' s Miss Piggy . On " Muppets Tonight " , the two remained paired as Piggy ' s nephews , Andy and Randy Pig . Whitmire took over the role of Beaker , playing off Goelz ' s Bunsen . Whitmire also took over the role of Statler , playing off Waldorf , whom Dave Goelz has performed since 1992 , and during the 1990s , the two performed the duo Jake and Stinky on " The Animal Show " . Leaving the Muppets . In July 2017 , ToughPigs . com released a statement from Disney that Whitmire was no longer involved with the Muppets and that longtime Muppet performer Matt Vogel would take over performing Kermit , beginning with a Muppet Thought of the Week video ( planned for the following week , but delayed until August ) . Whitmire launched a personal blog revealing that he had been informed in October 2016 that he would be dismissed from the role and recast , citing issues that had previously not been communicated with him . Before the decision had been made , Disney consulted with the Henson family , who supported the recasting of Kermit and Whitmire ' s dismissal . Lisa and Brian Henson made statements to the press about their views on working conditions over the years . In an interview with " The Hollywood Reporter " , Whitmire claimed that he was fired over creative disagreements and prolonged labor union negotiations that delayed his involvement in Muppet productions . He specifically cited " The Muppets " episode " " , expressing concern over a situation in which Kermit lies to his nephew Robin in order to shield him from a romantic breakup with Miss Piggy . Disney released a follow - up statement to explain their reasons for letting Whitmire go , claiming that " unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years " and Whitmire ' s " [ consistent failure ] to address the feedback " led to the decision . Whitmire ' s last performances as Kermit following the end of " The Muppets " ( 2015 ) include the Vulture Festival in May 2016 , two pre - recorded video appearances ( one for Tough Pigs ' " Fozzie Awards " and another for the Puppets for Puppetry event honoring Dave Goelz , both in September 2016 ) and a pre - recorded audio track for " Great Moments in American History " , which debuted in October 2016 . External links . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _