Noel MacNeal

Noel MacNeal (b. September 15, 1961) is a puppeteer who has performed in various Henson productions, working on Sesame Street on-and-off since 1982. His best known work has been his portrayal of Bear, the lead character of Bear in the Big Blue House. MacNeal published his memoir Hey, This Was Really Fun! in February 2023.
Born and raised in New York City's Central Harlem, he began his puppetry career on the television series The Great Space Coaster (taking over from John Lovelady as Knock Knock) and later made his way to Sesame Street, joining the show as a puppet wrangler.The Muppet Mindset interview with Noel MacNeal MacNeal's first Muppet performance was as a supermarket cashier in a Grover sketch; MacNeal flubbed his one speaking line, to tell Grover that his register was closed and to go to another line, which resulted in his character getting a close-up in a pick-up shot.ToughPigs.com: Noel MacNeal video interviewBelow The Frame with Matt Vogel Episode #23
MacNeal's other Sesame roles have included several full-bodied Snuffleupaguses, including Snuffy's mommy at various points, and his daddy in the unaired "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce." In the feature film Follow That Bird, he performed Madame Chairbird and doubled for Caroll Spinney as Big Bird in the scene where he's running from Bert and Ernie's plane. MacNeal has puppeteered Big Bird on several other occasions, such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition to performing, he has played an active role in hiring and training puppeteers for local Sesame Street productions in Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Jordan, Palestine, and India. During MacNeal's time on Bear in the Big Blue House, he served as principal performer, director, and wrote a few episodes and even song lyrics. In 2005, he reprised the role of Bear on Breakfast with Bear.
His more prominent non-Henson credits include the baby dragon Magellan on Eureeka's Castle, Leon MacNeal in The Puzzle Place, and Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. He puppeteered on Between the Lions (taking over Lionel for the last two seasons), Blue's Room, and Oobi (Kako).
MacNeal spent a stint as host and writer for Sprout's The Good Night Show. He has puppeteered on more adult series, including 30 Rock, Oz, Chappelle's Show (in the "Knee High Park" spoof of Sesame Street), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and as resident puppeteer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.Official Website: About Noel He wrote scripts for The Puzzle Place, Eureeka's Castle, Gullah Gullah Island, The Magic School Bus, and Cyberchase. In 2022, he performed in the off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors, puppeteering Audrey II and serving as a vacation cover.Little Shop of Horrors website
==Credits==
===Performer===
for a complete character gallery, see Noel MacNeal characters
* Sesame Street: Mommy Snuffleupagus, Daddy Snuffle, and others...
* The Muppets Take Manhattan: Big Bird (wedding finale)
* Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Big Bird (various parades)
* Follow That Bird: Madame Chairbird
* Little Muppet Monsters: Rat, Magic Book
* The Cosby Show ("Cliff's Nightmare"): Cheese
* Dinosaurs
* A New Baby in My House
* Sesame Street Stays Up Late
* Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
* Dog City: Doctor, Police Officer
* Muppet Meeting Films: Pastry and Injured Employee in "Top Ten Reasons to Take a Break"
* CityKids
* Elmo Saves Christmas
* Telling the Truth: Sheep
* Lead Away!
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Bear, Moss, Billy
* Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies: Announcer
* Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf: The Wolf
* Elmopalooza: Additional Muppet Performer
* Let's Eat!: Funny Food Songs: Spoon
* Moving Together: Himself (with son Mattie and other adult/baby pairs in live-action scenes)
* Elmo's Christmas Countdown
* A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa: Sweetums (credited as Edward Noel MacNeal)
* Old Dogs (credited as Edward Noel MacNeal)
* Julie's Greenroom
* The Muppets Take the Bowl: Sweetums (puppetry only)
* The Muppets Take the O2
* Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration: Letter CBehind the scenes photo
===Writer===
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Episode 206: You Learn Something New Every Day
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Episode 235: And to All a Good Night
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Episode 314: Wait for Me
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Episode 410: At the Old Bear Game
* Bear in the Big Blue House: Come on In
* Consultant: Hikayat Simsim (Jordan), Hikayat Simsim (Palestine), Galli Galli Sim Sim
===Director===
* Bear in the Big Blue House:
** Episode 420: Volunteers of Woodland Valley
* Sesame Street: 
** "The Wheels on the Bus Remix" music videosTwitter post by @NoelMacNeal, posted on March 17, 2021
** Season 53 Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck segmentsInstagram post by @warrickbp, posted on December 15, 2021
** Episode 5330Instagram post by @alanathoopers, posted May 25, 2023
** "Take Your Child to World Day" Twitter post by @NoelMacNeal, posted on June 9, 2022
** "Wes' First Barbershop Haircut" Twitter post by @NoelMacNeal, posted on June 12, 2022
** "12 Treats of Halloween" music videoInstagram story by @nmacneal, accessed on October 15, 2024
** "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" music videoBluesky post by @noelm.bsky.social‬, posted on December 11, 2025
**"Letter of the Day" song Instagram post by @NMacNeal, posted on January 15, 2025
==See also==
* Noel MacNeal cameos
==Sources==
==External links==
* Official Website (archived)
* Social media: TikTok • Instagram • Twitter • Cameo
* Noel's This and That Blog
* IMDb
* The Muppet Mindset interview with Noel MacNeal
* Tough Pigs interview with Noel MacNeal, part 1 Part 2 Part 3
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Performers
Category:Writers
Category:Directors
Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers
Category:Lyricists
Category:Puppet Wranglers