Martin P. Robinson

Martin P. Robinson (b. March 9, 1954) is a puppeteer who has performed on Sesame Street since 1981. His characters include Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus and Slimey. He is married to Sesame Street writer Annie Evans. Together, they ran the Sesame Workshop parenting blog Sesame Family Robinson.
==Bio==
Martin Robinson has been on staff at The Jim Henson Company since 1981. Early roles have included Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, Slimey, and Buster the Horse, though all were previously performed by other people. He also performed Oscar's niece, Irvine, and his mother, Mrs. Grouch, and has voiced many announcers. In addition to performing, he has played an active role in hiring and training puppeteers for local Sesame Street productions in Mexico, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Russia, and Bangladesh.
Other Henson productions that Robinson has performed in, outside of Sesame Street, have included the Farmer in The Tale of the Bunny Picnic, the animatronics for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Cat in the Hat on The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.
Robinson's stage credits include designing, building and performing Audrey II in the original 1982 off-Broadway and 2003 Broadway productions of Little Shop of Horrors and designing puppets (including a giant amphibian) for the 2004 Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs (with Nathan Lane).
Robinson got into the business as a member of the Bil Baird Puppet Company. According to Sesame Street Unpaved, "Martin Robinson became a performer so that he could play a wider variety of characters than his "nice guy" looks would have allowed him to play."Borgenicht, David Sesame Street Unpaved page 189.
On Sesame Street, Robinson's frequent performing partners have included Caroll Spinney (who played Big Bird to his Snuffy, and Oscar to his Telly), Kevin Clash (whose Elmo was often paired with Telly, and J. P. with Tito for "Miami Mice"), and David Rudman (Baby Bear).
Robinson has served as the assistant puppet captain for the series since the late 2010s, and has been credited on-screen as such starting with season 51.
He has twice been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award: in 1995, beaten by Shari Lewis, and in 2009 by Kevin Clash.
==Marriage on Sesame Street==
Robinson and Annie Evans married on the set of Sesame Street. The pair met in 1993 at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, where Martin was creating a puppet show to premiere during the conference. Martin proposed to Evans on New Year's Eve 2007, and the two were married on the steps of 123 Sesame Street in Studio J at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.
The ceremony was scripted by Evans, with Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch appearing from his trash can to heckle the couple. Wedding Notice in the New York Times 
Image:Martinsreception.jpg|The reception on the set of Sesame Street
Image:Martin'swedding.jpg|
==Henson Puppeteer Credits==
:for a complete character gallery, see Martin P. Robinson characters
* Sesame Street: Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Slimey, and others...
** Elmo's World: Kingfish, Book, Bulldozer, Caesar Penguin
** Elmo the Musical: Slowest-Drawing Ed
** Cookie's Crumby Pictures: The Karate Squid, Cookie Tin Man, Pegafish, Bon Bon
** Smart Cookies: The King, The Gingerbread Man
** Animated voiceovers: Man with a small octopus, Big octopus , Farmer in "Three Is My Favorite Number" 
* Muppet Meeting Films: Papa Luigi
* Don't Eat the Pictures
* Big Bird in China
* The Muppets Take Manhattan: Rat, The Swedish Chef (hands), Muppet Babies
* Follow That Bird: Board of Birds member
* Learning About Letters
* Bedtime Stories & Songs
* Getting Ready to Read: Rocky the Cat, Monster
* Big Bird's Story Time
* The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: The Farmer
* Little Muppet Monsters: Moose, Rat
* The Alphabet Game: Gary Grouch
* Big Bird's Favorite Party Games
* Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Leonardo (face)
* The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
* Rock & Roll!: Police Officer
* Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Firehouse
* Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Hospital
* Sing, Hoot & Howl with the Sesame Street Animals
* A New Baby in My House: King Goodheart
* Dog City: Scratch McCollie, Mr. MacTaggart, others
* Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration: Martian
* Sesame Street Stays Up Late
* Big Bird Sings!
* Learning to Share: The Big Bad Wolf
* Imagine That!
* Elmocize
* Muppet Treasure Island (Muppet Sing Alongs): Big Snort and Shark
* Elmo Saves Christmas: One of Santa's Elves
* Lead Away!
* Telling the Truth: The Big Bad Wolf
* Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies
* Elmo Says BOO!
* Big Bird Gets Lost
* Elmopalooza
* The Alphabet Jungle Game
* The Great Numbers Game
* Kids' Favorite Songs
* The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Laundromat Manager, Little Ricky, Telly Monster
* The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Sing and Play
* The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat (Season 2), Civil Servants #1, #2, #5, and #6, The Milk, and The Old Man
* Language to Literacy
* CinderElmo
* Music Works Wonders
* Let's Make Music
* Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf
* Elmo's Magic Cookbook
* Kids' Favorite Songs 2
* Talk, Read, Write
* A Magical Halloween Adventure
* Happy, Healthy, Ready for School!
* Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments
* The Get Healthy Now Show
* Kids' Favorite Country Songs
* Panwapa: Tungar the Tiger (puppetry only)
* Abby in Wonderland
* Dinosaurs!
* A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa: Penguin, Dr. Teeth (undubbed first line)
* Elmo's Christmas Countdown
* Being Green
* Elmo and Abby's Birthday Fun!: Jack
* Math Is Everywhere
* Kinect Sesame Street TV
* Elmo's Alphabet Challenge
* Little Children, Big Challenges
* The Cookie Thief: Edvard Munch Muppet
* Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas: Elf
* When You Wish Upon a Pickle: Todd Jameson
* Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
* Elmo's Playdate
* The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
* My Sesame Street Friends
* Elmo's Mindfulness Spectacular
* Cookie Monster's Bake Sale
* Oscar's Handmade Halloween
* Elmo and Tango Holiday Helpers
==Non-Henson Credits==
*Spitting Image
*Transformers: Puppeteered Optimus Prime in a series of live-action bumpers for the rerun based fifth season.
*Allegra's Window: coordinated the construction of many characters, and performed Riff the Cat and other characters.
==Notes==
* Robinson was born in Michigan and grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin where he attended Brookfield East High school. A talented actor and musician, he played the lead in several musicals, including Bernardo in West Side Story and Fagin in Oliver!.
* According to Street Gang, Robinson uses a converted greenhouse as his home workshop.
* He has a black belt in karate.
* According to Caroll Spinney, Robinson had divorced parents when he was young. This was the basis for the unaired episode "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce."Caroll Spinney interview [2:12:30], video interview for the Archive of American Television, conducted on May 12, 2001.
* Robinson has also narrated some book-and-tape read-alongs in the late 1980s.
==Sources==
==External links==
* Official site
* Sesame Family Robinson blog (archived)
* The Muppet Mindset interview with Martin Robinson, part 1 Part 2 Part 3
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Performers
Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers