Dave Goelz Dave Goelz ( b . July 16 , 1946 ) has been one of the lead Muppet performers for over 40 years , performing Gonzo , Beauregard , Dr . Bunsen Honeydew , Zoot , Boober Fraggle , Uncle Traveling Matt , Stinky the Skunk , and Rugby Tiger , as well as succeeding the role of Waldorf from Jim Henson . He is one of the few major performers to have no prior experience as either an actor or puppeteer . Early years . David Charles Goelz was born in Burbank , California . He had an interest in puppetry as a child , including an affinity for the children ' s television show " Time for Beany " , but after high school attended the Los Angeles Art Center ' s College of Design and began work as an industrial designer . The mechanically - minded Goelz worked for such companies as John Deere , American Airlines , and Hewlett - Packard . However , when " Sesame Street " premiered , he was fascinated by the craftsmanship , as he recalled in a Muppet Central interview : As Goelz later told " Disney twenty - three " : While working full - time for an electronics firm , Goelz began dabbling with puppet building . Building Muppets . In 1972 , Goelz met Frank Oz at a puppetry festival , and during a vacation in New York City , he attended the daily " Sesame Street " tapings . A few months later , Goelz showed his design portfolio to Jim Henson , and in 1973 , he was offered a job with Henson Associates as a part - time puppet builder . His first assignment was to build puppets and design effects for a proposed Broadway show . However , the show was soon abandoned in favor of an ABC pilot , " The Muppets Valentine Show " , for which Goelz built characters and got his first crack at performing , playing Brewster , whom he also designed . Upon Goelz ' s return to California , he learned that he had been replaced by his electronics employer , so he set up shop creating puppets for industrial videos . He performed Ray the Raychem Seal in one such video . Eight months later , in the fall of 1974 , Henson offered him a full - time position as a builder / designer , and occasional performer in specials , while still allowing him to keep his industrial clients . Returning to New York , Goelz began work on " " , for which he built the new host character , Nigel . Working from sketches by Jim Henson , Michael K . Frith , and Bonnie Erickson , he also built Animal , Floyd Pepper , and Zoot , the latter becoming his first major character . The birth of Gonzo . In 1976 , Goelz joined the rest of the Henson team and flew to London to begin work on " The Muppet Show " . In addition to reprising his role of Zoot and playing background roles , as in the earlier specials , Goelz was promoted to " Principal Muppet Performer " with the starring role of Gonzo . The puppet had debuted in " The Great Santa Claus Switch " , as Cigar Box Frackle , and had made brief appearances in Muppet Meeting Films and " Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass " , with different performers . The sad - eyed creation was now given a permanent name and puppeteer . However , in addition to playing Gonzo , Goelz was still employed in the Muppet Workshop . Goelz recalled the hectic schedule of working full - time behind the scenes and in front of the cameras in a 2004 " Film Threat " interview : Gonzo , that first season , like many of the new " Muppet Show " creations , was a work in progress , and especially for Goelz , playing his first starring character and major speaking role . When he was assigned the character , he panicked : " I have no voice ! " He thought of the voice the morning before the first taping performance . As recalled later , Goelz thought that he had the worst voice out of all the Muppet performers , and was scared the first time he had to sing . The early Gonzo , with a permanently sad expression , inspired a similarly depressed portrayal from the novice puppeteer : " The downcast eyes made him easy to play because that was exactly how I felt . I was an impostor in show business . I was learning how to perform and to puppeteer on the job . " In that first season , Gonzo was a misfit and out of place , according to Goelz , which was how he saw himself as a performer : Looking at the character in retrospect at MuppetFest , he recalled that " over the years , he sort of evolved along with me . . . I was an impostor in show business . In the first season , Gonzo is always self - effacing and embarrassed . But he knows he has something special . " Adding to Goelz ' s insecurity was the jaded veteran crew members of ATV Studios , who had worked with the likes of Julie Andrews and Bing Crosby , and were thus hard to impress . Finally , towards the end of the first season , Gonzo had a scene where he had to shout , in amazement , " No ! " Jim Henson told him to go bigger , so Goelz obliged with an overemphatic " NO ! " This earned his first laugh from the crew members . As Goelz increased in confidence , and Gonzo transitioned from a nervous depressed failure to a manic , confident stuntman , other facets of the character fell into place . The second season introduces his romantic fascination with poultry . As the performer reminisced in " Of Muppets and Men " : Muppet Show characters . In addition to the starring role of Gonzo , during the first season of " The Muppet Show " , Goelz also had the slightly less challenging but still time consuming supporting roles of Zoot and another new creation , scientist Bunsen Honeydew . In later seasons , a new Goelz character was added , the well - meaning but slow - witted janitor , Beauregard : Fraggle Rock . With the debut of " Fraggle Rock " , Goelz was cast as one of the five leads , the depressed , pessimistic Boober Fraggle . Boober stemmed from something Goelz had said while working on " The Muppet Show " , that he was so busy on the show that the only things he had time to worry about were death and laundry ( The Muppet Show Season One ) . At Muppetfest , Goelz related the process of character creation for the show : " They looked at the performers , and picked out our flaws , and made characters out of them . They denied it . . . So that ' s how I ended up with Boober , the suspicious , paranoid character . " In the " " interviews , Goelz also mentioned that " I was cast with Boober , who was sort of grumpy and inflexible , just like I could be a lot of the time . " Demonstrating his versatility , he also played the pompous Uncle Traveling Matt , the rat - like Philo , and the cantankerous World ' s Oldest Fraggle , as well as a variety of guest characters and memorable incidentals , such as the obese Large Marvin . In the " " interviews , Goelz talked about how he developed Traveling Matt ' s character , from the starting point as Matt being simply a misinterpreting chronicler of human life , to determining that Matt was also inherently clumsy and inept , which led to Matt covering up his blunders in his postcards and developing a comedic air of ostentation . Movies and beyond . Goelz continued to reprise his roles as Gonzo and Bunsen in feature films , slowly adding more aspects to " the weirdo , " and also worked on Henson ' s forays into " realistic " fantasy , " The Dark Crystal " ( performing the Garthim Master SkekUng and the dog - like Fizzgig ) , and " Labyrinth " ( playing a variety of roles , notably Sir Didymus ) . As the ' 80s progressed , in addition to switching between the manic Gonzo and the phlegmatic Boober ( a variety which Goelz recalled as " stimulating " ) , Goelz played occasional new roles in specials , notably Rugby Tiger in " The Christmas Toy " : Another new character was Digit , a semi - robot ic person on " The Jim Henson Hour " . 1990s to present . Following Jim Henson ' s sudden death in 1990 , and with Frank Oz continuing to focus heavily on directing , Gonzo the character and Goelz the performer gained increased significance , starting with the first new feature , " The Muppet Christmas Carol " . By performing Gonzo as Charles Dickens as narrator , Goelz ( accompanied by Steve Whitmire as Rizzo the Rat , a pairing which would be repeated in subsequent productions ) largely dominated the Muppet side of the film , and received top billing as " Muppet Performer " ( a distinction which would continue through " Muppet Treasure Island " and " Muppets from Space " ) " . . . when we did " The Muppet Christmas Carol " , [ Gonzo ] developed a soulful side . He played the part of Dickens , and I just loved doing that . It just paralleled my own growth . Jerry Juhl wrote it as a way of getting Dickensian prose into the movie . But the fact that he chose Gonzo was very satisfying to me . And I think it was because he saw me changing and I think he felt that Gonzo could change too " ( Film Threat ) . Goelz also took over the part of Waldorf from Henson . Apart from a brief stint operating the face of Earl Sinclair and performing hand - puppet guest characters on " Dinosaurs " , and reprising Rugby in " The Secret Life of Toys " , Goelz ' most notable new television character was Stinky the Skunk in " The Animal Show " . Otherwise , the puppeteer remained mostly occupied with Gonzo in movies , videos , and the 1996 series " Muppets Tonight " , the latter introducing a few new characters such as Randy Pig and Bill the Bubble Guy . Goelz also performed a handful of minor " Sesame Street " characters , and appeared in " The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland " as Humongous Chicken . Goelz guest starred on " Bear in the Big Blue House " as Jack the Dog in the two - part " Berry Bear Christmas " . His most recent credits include " " and the Muppet viral videos . External links . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _