Frank Oz Frank Oz ( born Richard Frank Oznowicz on May 25 , 1944 ) is an American actor , puppeteer and director , best known as the puppeteer for and original voice of Yoda . Outside of " Star Wars " , Oz is notable for his work with Jim Henson ' s Muppets and in film directing . Biography . Oz was born in , , but moved to California with his parents when he was five years old . Muppets . Oz was Muppets creator Jim Henson ' s closest collaborator as well as his best friend . He performed the memorable Muppet characters Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal , Sam the Eagle , Bert , Grover and Cookie Monster . Henson and Oz made such memorable pairings as Ernie and Bert , as well as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy , and the Swedish Chef . 3 other characters that Oz performed , Fozzie Bear , Grover and Cookie Monster , would play off of Kermit on numerous occasions , and there was also Lefty the Salesman , who tried to fool poor Ernie on several occasions . Other pairings of the team ' s characters include Rowlf the Dog and Fozzie Bear , along with Rowlf sometimes paired with Miss Piggy . Kermit also had to listen to another of Frank ' s characters , w : c : muppet : Sam the Eagle Sam the Eagle endlessly complain about the weirdness of what was shown normally on " The Muppet Show " . Also , when it came time for Dr . Teeth and the Electric Mayhem to perform a number on any " Muppet Show " episode , Henson ' s Dr . Teeth and Oz ' s Animal were always positioned right next to each other on the bandstand , even " after " Jim died . Also , in episode 302 , when guest star Leo Sayer had asked to meet Animal , Dr . Teeth brought Animal into Leo ' s dressing room so Animal could meet him . As in the case of Kermit and Piggy , on several occasions , Henson ' s characters usually became victim to Oz ' s characters , and , occasionally , vice versa . For example , Kermit became Marvin Suggs ' victim in episode 506 of " The Muppet Show " , as well as Animal . The 1st time this occurred was in episode 110 , when Animal beat on Kermit like a drum to get him to forget about replacing Animal as the show ' s drummer . They also worked together in the early 1980s while co - directing / performing in " The Dark Crystal " . They also played the parents in the Twiddlebug family with Henson performing the father , Thomas Twiddlebug , and with Oz performing the mother , Tessie Twiddlebug . It can be seen clearly that Jim and Frank had always been like brothers , like their primary characters on " Sesame Street " , Ernie and Bert , respectively , are today . At his Memorial Service , 5 short days after his death , Frank speaks of a Christmas gift Jim gave him , which he called Bert in Self - Contemplation " . He starts to cry but manages to say " That ' s when I knew , he loved me & I loved him . " Directing . Starting in the mid - 1990s , after 3 + decades of Muppet performing , Oz began to transition away from his Muppet duties to focus on directing ( including 1989 ' s " " , which co - starred Ian McDiarmid ) . Though he still occasionally performs his characters on " Sesame Street " , his four primary " Muppet Show " characters were passed to Eric Jacobson ( Bert and Grover ) and David Rudman ( Cookie Monster ) immediately following " Muppets from Space " . Although well known for the role of Yoda , Oz refuses to attend fan conventions or imitate the character ' s voice outside of " Star Wars " , out of his respect for the role .