Fran Brill

right|300px|thumb|Fran Brill performing on The Muppet Show.
right|300px|thumb|Fran Brill and Bill Murray in What About Bob?.
Fran Brill (b. September 30, 1946) is an actress and puppeteer who worked on Sesame Street beginning in 1970. She was the first female puppeteer hired by Jim Henson, outside of wife Jane Henson. She is best known for performing Prairie Dawn and Zoe. 
Brill retired from performing in September 2014.The Jim Henson Legacy - Fran Brill: A Job Well Done. She made a special return appearance in Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration. A few years prior to her retirement, Brill participated in the film Muppet Guys Talking, which was released in 2018.
==Early Career==
A native of Pennsylvania, Brill began her performing career in community theater, and in 1968, while in Atlanta, she joined the cast of the play Red, White and Maddox, which ridiculed segregationist governor Lester Maddox. The show proved somewhat controversial due to its political subject matter, but transferred to Broadway in 1969, and Brill moved to New York City to join her fellow cast members, who included a young Christopher Lloyd."Viewers Praise Actress for Role in TV Serial." TV-Entertainment Review. Nov. 23-24, 1974. The show closed in less than three months, after only 41 performances. Out of a job, Brill was seeking work as a voice-over actress and in radio commercials, when she answered an ad from Muppets Inc., auditioning performers for what she initially assumed was a voice-over assignment. As the puppeteer recalled, "In those days, 1970, it was a small operation and if you called, you could get Jim directly on the phone.... They were training people to do a Christmas special for The Ed Sullivan Show." The special was The Great Santa Claus Switch, and after a two week puppetry workshop with Henson, she was subsequently asked to join Sesame Street.Vadeboncouer, Joan E. "Voice of Prairie Dawn gives Fran Brill the freedom to choose her roles." Syracuse Herald American Stars Magazine. January 4, 1987.
==Sesame Street Girls==
For Sesame Street, Brill initially played a variety of minor roles, usually supplying little girl voices, but quickly established her first notable character, Prairie Dawn: 
Brill also coined the character's name: "I heard of an actress with a similar name [Prairie Dorn] and Jim loves unusual names." Other characters followed, but it wasn't until 1993 that Brill established her next major role, as Zoe. Brill observed children, male and female, when developing her performance, picking up the basis for the character's laugh as well as the initial catch phrase "Don't joke me." Though Brill was initially uncertain of the character's longevity, Zoe was the only new character introduced that season who has endured and thrived.Eckholm, Eric. "On the Set with Zoe: The Monster Is a Girl." The New York Times. August 9, 1993. Later, Brill added Kami — the HIV-positive Muppet from Takalani Sesame — to her resume, performing her in most public appearances in the U.S. Outside of Sesame Street, Brill has worked on The Muppet Show pilot The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, Saturday Night Live, and Dog City, amongst many other Muppet projects.
==Acting Career==
While puppeteering kept her busy, Brill continued to pursue an acting career on stage and screen. On stage, concurrent with her Muppet work, Brill won two Drama Desk Awards, for What Every Woman Knows (1976) and Knuckles (1981). She received considerable acclaim for her role as Fran Bachman on the soap opera How to Survive a Marriage (1974-1975), in particular for her dramatic scenes following the death of the character's husband. Her notable film credits include Being There (1979), Midnight Run (1988, as Charles Grodin's wife), and What About Bob? (1991, directed by Frank Oz). TV work includes recurring stints on such soap operas as All My Children and As the World Turns as featured supporting characters and guest spots on Law & Order, Kate & Allie, and Third Watch. She has also made several cameos in Muppet productions.
Brill's voice work includes the animated series Doug and Doug's First Movie, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and several radio and television commercials. As she noted in 1987, "I can pinch myself and say, 'I may not be a major motion picture star, but that's OK. I've done all right."
==Notes==
*Brill's husband, Robert Kelly, wrote Episode 2778 for Sesame Street Season 22.
==Muppet Credits==
for a complete character gallery, see Fran Brill characters
* Sesame Street: Prairie Dawn, Zoe, and others...
* The Great Santa Claus Switch
* Muppet Meeting Films: Janice
* Saturday Night Live: Vazh
* The Muppet Show: Mary Louise (episode 108), Whatnot woman (episode 109)
* The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence: Janice, Doris, Receptionist, Leafy Green Vegetables, Pink Stalk, Whatnot
* Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
* The Jim Henson Hour: Vicki, Zondra, and others...
* Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
* Sing, Hoot & Howl with the Sesame Street Animals: Chicken
* Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game: Mary
* Billy Bunny's Animal Songs: The Porcupine, Frog
* Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
* Sesame Street Stays Up Late
* Sing-Along Earth Songs: Flo
* A New Baby in My House
* Dog City: Colleen Barker, Terri Springer
* Stars and Street Forever
* The Best of Elmo
* Do the Alphabet
* Learning to Share
* Imagine That!
* Elmo Saves Christmas: Elf
* Quiet Time
* Elmopalooza
* The Alphabet Jungle Game
* The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Pesties, Grouches
* Kids' Favorite Songs
* CinderElmo
* Elmo's World: Wild Wild West!
* Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf
* Kids' Favorite Songs 2
* Bert & Ernie's Word Play: The Frosty Four
* Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!
* Zoe's Dance Moves
* Play with Me Sesame
* Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
* A Magical Halloween Adventure
* A Celebration of Me, Grover
* The Producers: Pigeons
* Happy Healthy Monsters
* Sesame Beginnings: Baby Prairie Dawn
* Elmo's Potty Time
* Talk, Listen, Connect: Mae
* Panwapa: Athena the Owl (puppetry only)
* Learning is Everywhere: Miss Fran
* Abby in Wonderland
* Elmo's Christmas Countdown
* Love the Earth!
* Kinect Sesame Street TV
* Little Children, Big Challenges: Ms. Betancourt
* Monster Manners
* The Cookie Thief
==Voice roles==
*Sesame Street - assorted animated segments
*Elmo the Musical: Stadium Announcer ("Athlete the Musical")
*Three Sesame Street Stories: Little Bird, Rodeo Rosie, Mrs. Washington, Squirmy, Saloon showgirl, Half-Baked Gazette reporter
*Five Sesame Street Stories: Prairie Dawn, Betty Lou, Narrator ("Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street"), Dolores
*The Great Cookie Thief app: various saloon patrons
==See also==
* Fran Brill cameos
* non-Henson acting roles
==Sources==
==External links==
*The Official Fran Brill Website
*IMDb
*IBDb
*Jim Henson's Red Book entry, 9/1970 – Fran Brill starts with Muppets on Sesame Street.
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Category:Muppet Performers
Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers
Category:Animated Voice Actors