Matt Vogel

Matt Vogel (born October 6, 1970) is an American puppeteer, director and singer who has worked for the Jim Henson Company and Sesame Workshop. He has performed with the Muppets, Sesame Street, and Oobi.
== Career ==
Vogel first auditioned for the Jim Henson Company in 1993 and joined the crew of Sesame Street in 1996 as an ensemble puppeteer. He has served as a director and puppet captain on Sesame Street since 2008. He inherited many of Jerry Nelson's Muppet character roles in 2008, when he began performing with The Muppets Studio. Since 2017, he has been the performer of Kermit the Frog.
With the Muppets, Vogel is one of the principal cast performers with the roles of Kermit,[2] Floyd Pepper, Uncle Deadly, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Robin the Frog, Sweetums, Camilla the Chicken,[3] and Constantine under his tutelage.[2] On Sesame Street, Vogel is the performer of Count von Count, and Big Bird.[4] On Oobi, he performed Angus.[5]
Beginning his puppeteering career at the Jim Henson Company in the 1990s,[6] Vogel later served as the assistant puppeteer for Ernie on Sesame Street, performing with Steve Whitmire.[7] After studying the role of Big Bird under the performance of Caroll Spinney from 1996, he inherited the role, explaining "It takes a lot of physical exertion" and "I'm wearing the body of the bird".[8] Spinney remarked that "Vogel" is the German translation for "bird".[8] He also took over the puppetry of the Sesame Street character Count von Count, and also the voice after Jerry Nelson died in 2012.[8]
With The Muppets Studio, Vogel has been performing since 2008, and has appeared in The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, and a short-lived primetime series.[9] Vogel performed the Muppets that were used in Kenneth's view of the world in the 30 Rock episode "Apollo, Apollo".[10] In 2016, Vogel voiced the character of Wilkins in Alice Through the Looking Glass directed by James Bobin.[2]
From 2017 onward, Vogel was cast as the new performer for Kermit the Frog, replacing Steve Whitmire.[11] His first official performance as Kermit was scheduled to take place during a "Muppets Thought of the Week" segment to be uploaded on the Muppets' official YouTubechannel.[2] The video was uploaded in August 2017.
Recently, Vogel performed his Sesame Street characters for the 2020 live stage show tour Sesame Street Live!, was one of twelve people to assist Martin P. Robinson in puppeteering the Plant for the 2021 film version of Little Shop of Horrors; and performed Kermit, Floyd, Uncle Deadly, Camilla, Sweetums, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry and others in the 2023 film Muppets to the City.
== Personal life ==
Vogel is originally from Kansas City, Kansas. He was a fan of both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show as a boy.[3] After 1993, he moved from Kansas City to New York.[3] Vogel has been married to his wife Kelly C. McDonnell since August 31, 1997; together they have five children.[12][13]
== Filmography ==
Year 	Title 	Role(s)
1996–present	Sesame Street 	Various characters
Big Bird (1998–present)
Count von Count (since 2013)
Ernie (assistant, 2000–03)
1999 	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland 	Assistant for Big Bird
Assistant for Ernie
2000 	Between the Lions 	Ensemble puppeteer
2002–07 	Play with Me Sesame 	Assistant for Ernie
2003 	Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic 	Big Bird
2003–05 	Oobi 	Angus
2008 	A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa 	Floyd Pepper
Camilla the Chicken
Crazy Harry
Lew Zealand
Robin the Frog
Pigeon Son
2011 	The Muppets 	Floyd Pepper
Camilla the Chicken
Sweetums
'80s Robot
Lew Zealand
Uncle Deadly
Crazy Harry
2013 	Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map	Fred Jones
2014 	Muppets Most Wanted 	Constantine
Floyd Pepper
Sweetums
Pops
Robin the Frog
Lew Zealand
Crazy Harry
'80s Robot
Camilla the Chicken
Uncle Deadly
2015–2016 	The Muppets 	Uncle Deadly
Floyd Pepper
Sweetums
Lew Zealand
Crazy Harry
Camilla the Chicken
Robin the Frog
2016 	Alice Through the Looking Glass 	Wilkins (voice)
2016 	The Furchester Hotel 	Big Bird
Count von Count
2017 	The Muppets Take the Bowl 	Kermit the Frog
Uncle Deadly
Floyd Pepper
Lew Zealand
Crazy Harry
Camilla the Chicken
Dr. Strangepork
Snowth
Sweetums (voice)
2018 	The Muppets Take the O2 	Kermit the Frog
Uncle Deadly
Floyd Pepper
Lew Zealand
Crazy Harry
Camilla the Chicken
Dr. Strangepork
Snowth
Sweetums (voice)
2020 	Sesame Street Live! 	Big Bird
Count von Count
Mr. Johnson
Keeshan the Kangaroo
Fin the Fish
2020 	Muppets Now 	Kermit the Frog
Uncle Deadly
Floyd Pepper
Camilla the Chicken
Lew Zealand
2021 	Little Shop of Horrors 	Audrey II (puppeteer)
2021 	Muppets Haunted Mansion 	Kermit the Frog
Floyd Pepper
Uncle Deadly
Sweetums
Lew Zealand
Crazy Harry
2023 	Muppets to the City 	Kermit the Frog
Uncle Deadly
Floyd Pepper
Sweetums (voice)
Camilla the Chicken
'80s Robot
Lew Zealand
Dr. Strangepork
Pops
Crazy Harry
Big Bird (voice)
Count von Count
Category:1970 births
Category:American male singers
Category:American puppeteers
Category:Living people
Category:Muppet Performers