Dr. Teeth

Dr. Teeth is the leader of the Electric Mayhem, the house band on The Muppet Show. Originally performed by Jim Henson, Dr. Teeth is the group's lead singer and keyboardist. He made his debut on the talk show circuit ahead of his appearance on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence; one on the March 18, 1975 broadcast of The Tonight Show and another for The Mike Douglas Show, taped on February 5th.
Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw. He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard.
For a time after Jim Henson's death in 1990, Dr. Teeth seldom appeared or was used in silent cameos, with speaking appearances initially rare. John Kennedy, who was a Dr. Teeth costume performer for the Disney World live show Here Come the Muppets,"EP#13: John Kennedy/"Double-Stick Tape"/Not Puppets (Bill Barretta)", Below The Frame with Matt Vogel, October 21, 2020. provided the character's voice for the next Disney stage show, Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses. Kennedy would continue to perform Dr. Teeth until 2005, when the role was assumed by Bill Barretta.
The good doctor has appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. He has since had more prominent speaking parts in The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted (with more scenes in the extended cut).
==Notes==
*While Dr. Teeth usually has live hands, his hands were originally rod hands in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. The rod arms would occasionally be used on The Muppet Show. Also, the live hands version has five fingers on each hand, while the rod arm version has four on each hand until later seasons of The Muppet Show.
*According to the inside cover for Rock Music with the Muppets, Dr. Teeth has his name because he's never had a cavity.
*In the Sesame Street "Monsterpiece Theater" sketch spoofing Upstairs, Downstairs, a picture of Dr. Teeth can be seen at the top of the staircase that Grover climbs.
*Dr. Teeth was usually sighted in the recording studio behind Solid Foam in The Jim Henson Hour.
*In an interview prior to the release of Muppets Now, Walter claims that Dr. Teeth is a beekeeper in his spare time.Collider: 'Muppets Now': What Walter Has Learned From Working With Kermit and the Gang, July 30, 2020.
*Episode 6 of The Muppets Mayhem revealed that Dr. Teeth really is an accredited dentist. His full name is Gerald Teeth, Jr., D.D.S., and his parents are dentist Tina Teeth and dental assistant Gerald Teeth Sr.
*Different explanations have been given for the origin of his gold tooth. On talk shows, he claimed it was made from his gold records, melted, putting his money where his mouth is."3/18/1975 – ‘In LA Carson Show – Dr. Teeth – talk with Dave Lazer’", Jim Henson's Red Book, 18 March 2013. The line was written by Norman Stiles for The Mike Douglas Show. In an episode of The Muppets, he says that he got it from a voodoo princess named Tianna in Tupelo, MS.The Muppets episode "Going, Going, Gonzo" In The Muppets Mayhem, it is revealed that it is actually a gold cap, made from his Great Granddaddy's solid gold floss case.
==Design and Development==
The character who would become Dr. Teeth was first drawn around 1973Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal, p.94-95 by Bob Taylor. The look of "The Boogie Man" was inspired by jazz keyboardist Dr. John. Taylor later recalled:
Jim Henson did a further sketch of the character in 1974 (reproduced in the book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles). Michael Frith then made a more refined, color sketch of the character, with the heading "Leon 'Doctor' Eltonjohn Dontshoot (the Piano Player)" -- adding the influence of Elton John (and possibly Leon Russell) to the character. Dr. Teeth's voice and creative vocabulary is a direct nod to Dr. John.
Boogeyman.png|"The Boogie Man" by Bob Taylor
Jim-teeth-1974.png|Jim Henson
Drteethsketch.jpg|Michael Frith
==Casting History==
Primary Performers
* Jim Henson - from The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)
* Bill Barretta - The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) to Present
Other Performers
* John Kennedy - Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses (1991), Muppet Treasure Island video game (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), Muppet RaceMania video game (2000), "We Are Family" music video (2002), Muppets Party Cruise video game (2003)
* Victor Yerrid - From the Balcony Episode 9 (2005)
* Martin P. Robinson - A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008, undubbed first line)
==Filmography==
*The Tonight Show
**March 18, 1975
**July 25, 1975
**April 2, 1979
*The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
*Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things
*Cher (September 7, 1975)
*The Mike Douglas Show
*Kagayake! Gorō Mapetto Geba Geba 90-pun!
*Wonderama (January 4, 1976)
*The Muppet Show
**"The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 2-5)
**Episode 102: Connie Stevens (At the Dance)
**Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Willkommen")
**Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi ("Sunny")
**Episode 106: Jim Nabors ("Money")
**Episode 110: Harvey Korman ("Love Ya to Death," "Sweet Tooth Jam")
**Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("A Nice Girl Like Me")
**Episode 116: Avery Schreiber ("Tenderly")
**Episode 118: Phyllis Diller ("Lazybones")
**Episode 120: Valerie Harper (At the Dance)
**Episode 123: Kaye Ballard
**Episode 124: Mummenschanz ("Mr. Bassman")
**Episode 201: Don Knotts ("Lullaby of Birdland")
**Episode 202: Zero Mostel (Chopin's "Polonaise in A Flat")
**Episode 208: Steve Martin
**Episode 209: Madeline Kahn ("New York State of Mind")
**Episode 211: Dom DeLuise ("Don't Blame the Dynamite")
**Episode 213: Rudolf Nureyev (Boccherini's "Minuet in A Major")
**Episode 214: Elton John ("Crocodile Rock," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart")
**Episode 215: Lou Rawls (Talk Spot: "Bye Bye Blackbird," "You're the One")
**Episode 216: Cleo Laine ("It Don't Mean a Thing")
**Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan ("That Old Black Magic")
**Episode 220: Petula Clark (At the Dance)
**Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheesecake")
**Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
**Episode 302: Leo Sayer
**Episode 305: Pearl Bailey
**Episode 308: Loretta Lynn
**Episode 311: Raquel Welch
**Episode 315: Lesley Ann Warren ("Mack the Knife")
**Episode 317: Spike Milligan ("America")
**Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone ("Lady Be Good")
** Episode 406: Linda Lavin
**Episode 407: Dudley Moore ("Mama Don't Allow," "How High the Moon")
** Episode 413: Dizzy Gillespie
**Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
**Episode 415: Anne Murray ("Walk Right Back")
**Episode 419: Lynda Carter ("I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends")
**Episode 420: Alan Arkin
**Episode 424: Diana Ross ("Last Time I Saw Him")
**Episode 504: Shirley Bassey ("Barnyard Boogie")
**Episode 505: James Coburn
**Episode 506: Brooke Shields (as the Cheshire Cat: "When You're Smiling" Medley, "We're Off to See the Wizard")
**Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal ("Rockin' Robin")
**Episode 511: Paul Simon ("Loves Me Like a Rock")
**Episode 513: Tony Randall ("Poison Ivy")
**Episode 517: Hal Linden ("When the Saints Go Marching In")
*Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring
*The Muppet Movie
*The Muppets Go Hollywood
*The Great Muppet Caper
*I Love Liberty
*The Muppets Take Manhattan
*Rock Music with the Muppets
*The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
*A Muppet Family Christmas
*Muppet Babies
**"Muppets Not Included"
*The Jim Henson Hour
**Episode 107: Fitness
**Episode 108: Videotape
*The Muppets at Walt Disney World
*The Muppet Christmas Carol
*Muppet Treasure Island
*Muppets from Space
*The Muppet Show Live
*It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
*The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
*"We Are Family" music video
*CanTeen "Bandanana" commercial
*From the Balcony (Episode 9)
*A Green and Red Christmas
*Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse
*Studio DC Hosted by Selena Gomez
*A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
*D23 Expo (2009, 2022)
*Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. commercials
*Muppet viral videos
**"Bohemian Rhapsody"
**"Jungle Boogie"
**"Kodachrome"
*Christmas in Rockefeller Center
*America's Funniest Home Videos
*"The Muppet Show Theme music video"
*The Muppets
*Orange commercial
*Jimmy Kimmel Live
*Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular
*Toyota
*Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
*Muppets Most Wanted
* The Muppets 2015 Presentation Pilot
*The Muppets
*Warburtons commercial
*The Muppets Take the Bowl
*Muppet Babies
**"Muppet Rock"
*The Muppets Take the O2
*Carpool Karaoke: The Series
*Facebook Portal commercials
*The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II
*The Late Late Show with James Corden
*Muppets Now
*Muppets Haunted Mansion
*Dear Earth
*The Muppets Mayhem
==Book appearances==
*The Muppet Show Book
*It's The Muppet Show!
*The Comic Muppet Book
*Muppets at Sea
*The Case of the Missing Hat (1982)
*Jim Henson's Muppet Show Bill
*The Muppets Take Manhattan (Comic Book)
*Cleopigtra
*The Phantom of the Muppet Theater
*The Muppet Show Comic Book
*Muppet Robin Hood
*The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson
*Muppet Peter Pan
*Muppet Snow White
*Kermit's Costume Caper
*The Muppets Character Encyclopedia
*Muppets Meet the Classics; Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm
==Video game appearances==
*Muppet Treasure Island
*Muppet RaceMania
*Muppets Party Cruise
==Merchandise==
*Dr. Teeth Mug
*Dr. Teeth Action Figure
*Dr. Teeth Variant Action Figure
*Dr. Teeth plush
*Vinylmation figure
*Funko vinyl figure
*Dr. Teeth Diamond Select Action Figure
*Dr. Teeth Bust (Sideshow Collectibles) 
*Dr Teeth Minimate
*Dr. Teeth Tambourine (Muppet Sound)
*Dr. Teeth Wacky Wobbler (Funko)
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Characters
Category:The Muppets Characters
Category:Muppet Show Characters
Category:The Muppets (2015) Characters
Category:Muppet Babies Guest Stars
Category:Muppets Now Characters
Category:The Muppets Mayhem Characters