Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz ( b . May 25 , 1944 ) , better known as Frank Oz , is one of the foremost Muppet performers and Jim Henson ' s closest collaborator . Oz and Henson performed some of most famous Muppet comedy teams - - Oz was Bert to Henson ' s Ernie , and Miss Piggy to Henson ' s Kermit the Frog . On " Sesame Street " , Oz also performed Grover and Cookie Monster ; on " The Muppet Show " , he performed Fozzie Bear , Animal and Sam the Eagle . Early Years . Frank Richard Oznowicz was born in England , spent parts of his childhood in Belgium , and moved to America when he was five . The son of puppeteers Isadore " Mike " Oznowicz and his wife Frances , with two other siblings , young Frank was performing as part of the Oznowicz Family Marionettes troupe by age 12 . Despite this background , " I don ' t have a love of puppets , " Oz explained in a 1987 interview " I did it as a means of expression . I was able to express myself and please my parents . It was also safe to hide behind puppets because at that point I was a little shy . " He had no desire to go into puppeteering professionally : " I just did it as a hobby to get some money - - I really wanted to be a journalist . " Beginnings with Henson . At the age of 17 , Oz first met Jim Henson at the Puppeteers of America festival in California . His first impression of Henson was as " this very quiet , shy guy who did these absolutely * * * * * * * amazing puppets that were totally brand new and fresh , that had never been done before . " At age 19 , in 1963 , he joined the burgeoning Muppets , Inc . as a right hand for Rowlf the Dog in variety appearances and later on " The Jimmy Dean Show " . It was here that Jimmy Dean introduced him as " Frank Oz . . . , " mumbling the last part of his name . Thus , Oz began using the shortened form of his name that he ' s known by today . He also worked on commercials , replacing Jane Henson as key assistant . While Henson provided all of the voices , he and Oz would alternate when performing such buddy duos as Scoop and Skip , and the new puppeteer assisted on such characters as the Southern Colonel and Nutty Bird . His most notable commercial role was as Delbert the La Choy Dragon . This was Oz ' s first , and one of his very few , experiences as a full - bodied puppet performer , and one which he did not relish : " Sesame Street " . On " Sesame Street " , Frank Oz originated the characters of Bert , Grover , and Cookie Monster , and performed them exclusively for nearly 30 years . During this time , he performed a great number of minor characters , including Lefty the Salesman . He was also offered the role of Big Bird , but because of his experience as the La Choy Dragon , he turned down the role . Commenting on his performing habits , Fran Brill noted that Oz would often put his hand on top of whoever was doing right hands so they couldn ' t gesture too much . According to the book " Sesame Street Unpaved " , during the show ' s early years Oz was in almost every sketch , but by 1998 he only appeared on the " Sesame Street " set four days a year , performing nearly fifteen sketches with his characters during those four days . As of 2011 , he is still taping appearances during a limited schedule for new segments , one day a year . Despite this , to help keep Oz ' s characters visible Eric Jacobson is currently the principal performer of Bert and Grover , and David Rudman is the principal performer of Cookie Monster . Oz was confirmed to have performed in segments for season 43 . Middle Years . Between the beginning of " Sesame Street " and the start of " The Muppet Show " , Frank Oz performed in nearly every major Henson production , including " The Great Santa Claus Switch " , " The Frog Prince " , and " The Muppet Musicians of Bremen " . One of his most significant characters during this time was The Mighty Favog on " Saturday Night Live " . " The Muppet Show " . Frank Oz was one of the main performers on " The Muppet Show " , performing several of the show ' s stars . Oz performed Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , and Animal , as well as secondary characters Sam the Eagle , George the Janitor and Marvin Suggs . Fozzie Bear was originally intended to be his main character , and Miss Piggy was originally meant to be a supporting character . In fact , during the first few episodes of the show ' s first season , Frank Oz shared the role of Miss Piggy with Richard Hunt . Once the writers and producers realized that Miss Piggy was more than just a one - joke character , and had more star potential than Fozzie Bear , Miss Piggy became a major part of the Muppet cast , and Frank Oz performed her full - time . In addition to performing these main characters , Oz also normally performed the hands of The Swedish Chef while Jim Henson performed the body and voice . During these sketches , Oz would often do someting unexpected with the hands , without telling Jim Henson beforehand . The Muppet Morsels quote Oz as saying that the best Swedish Chef sketches were unrehearsed . In addition to performing , Frank Oz also wrote the songs " The Rhyming Song " and " Jamboree " . He was also credited on " The Muppet Show " as a creative consultant . Frank Oz and Jim Henson . And so it was with the many characters on which the two collaborated . Together , Jim Henson and Frank Oz made such memorable pairings as Ernie and Bert , Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy , and the aforementioned Swedish Chef . Two other characters that Oz performed , Fozzie Bear and Grover , would play off Henson ' s Kermit the Frog on numerous occasions , and The Salesman was always trying to pull one over on poor Ernie . Other pairings of the team ' s characters include Rowlf and Fozzie . As in the case of Kermit and Miss Piggy , Henson ' s characters often became the victim of one of Oz ' s characters , and vice versa . For example , Kermit would become victim to Marvin Suggs in of " The Muppet Show " , as well as Oz ' s character of Animal . The first time this occurred was in , when Animal beat on Kermit like a drum . The two also worked together during the early 1980s while co - directing and performing in " The Dark Crystal " . Michael K . Frith says that Henson and Oz ' s work was inspiring : Branching Out . In 1980 , George Lucas contacted Henson about a puppet character he wanted for his next " Star Wars " film , " The Empire Strikes Back " , a creature known as Yoda . Since Henson was pre - occupied , Oz was assigned as chief puppeteer and as creative consultant , while other Henson alumni worked on the fabrication . Oz had a great deal of creative input on the character , and was himself responsible for creating the character ' s trademark style of reversed grammar . Originally , Frank Oz was only supposed to provide the puppetry , with somebody else providing the voice , but at the last minute , Lucas decided to use Oz ' s voice . Oz would go on to perform Yoda in all of the sequels and prequels ( the latter of which used a CGI version of Yoda ) , and returned as Yoda in an episode of " Star Wars : Rebels " . Oz has also been a frequent cameo player in the films of John Landis , in which he was often cast as a grizzled or surly official . This began with " An American Werewolf in London " and extended to " The Blues Brothers " , " Trading Places " , " Spies Like Us " , " Innocent Blood " , and " Blues Brothers 2000 " . As a voice actor outside of the Muppets and Yoda , he was heard as Fungus in the Pixar film " Monsters , Inc . " , as Subconcious Guard Dave ( alongside fellow Muppet performer Dave Goelz as Subconcious Guard Frank ) in the Pixar film " Inside Out " , and the robot in Columbia Pictures ' " Zathura " . Directorial Career . Frank Oz made his directorial debut on " Sesame Street " when he directed the Number Three Ball Film segment . When production began on " The Dark Crystal " , Jim Henson decided to let Frank Oz co - direct the movie with him . According to an interview with Oz , A few years later , Oz directed " The Muppets Take Manhattan " . According to Oz , After this , he directed his first non - Henson movie , " Little Shop of Horrors " , adapted from the Broadway play . In the 1987 interview with " The Advertiser " , Oz explained the empowering aspects of directing : Following the film ' s success , Oz became an in - demand director , primarily of live action comedies such as " Dirty Rotten Scoundrels " , " What About Bob ? " , and " The Stepford Wives " . In 2001 , he directed his first drama , " The Score " , and in 2007 , he directed his first independent film , " Death at a Funeral " . Because of his career as a director , he became too busy to perform as often as he had previously . He would still perform a few days on " Sesame Street " every season , and would often find time to perform in major ( and sometimes minor ) Muppet productions , though the producers often had to work around his schedule ( and in some instances , other puppeteers performed his characters on set and he looped the dialogue later . Such was the case during many of the filming days for " Muppet Treasure Island " and " Muppets from Space " . ) Current Muppet Status . " See also Why doesn ' t Frank Oz perform with the Muppets anymore ? " Starting in the mid - 1990s , after more than thirty years of Muppet performing , Oz began to transition himself away from his Muppet duties to focus on directing . He occasionally performs his characters on " Sesame Street " , but following " Muppets from Space " , his classic " Muppet Show " characters have been turned over to Eric Jacobson . In a 2007 interview , Oz explained why he distanced himself from the Muppets : In a 2000 interview , Oz said , In addition to not posing for pictures with his characters , Frank Oz also refuses to talk in his character voices on request . His reasoning for this is that the characters are too special to him . For him , to do a voice on command is akin to performing a parlor trick , and that the character exists as much more than just a voice . Oz goes more into depth on this subject in " The World of Jim Henson " . Oz made a rare in - person appearance on October 23 , 2011 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria , New York , across the street from the Kaufman Astoria Studios where " Sesame Street " is currently taped . Interviewed by Craig Shemin , the seminar focused on his career both as a Muppet performer and director . From 2011 - 2017 , Oz developed " Muppet Guys Talking " , a documentary film where he and fellow Muppet performers Jerry Nelson , Dave Goelz , Fran Brill , and Bill Baretta discuss their time working with the Muppets . Awards & Honors . 1974 1976 1979 1999 _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _