Rick Lyon

Rick Lyon (b. February 25) is a puppeteer and actor from Rochester, New York, who began working on Sesame Street in Season 20 and has performed in many projects for The Jim Henson Company from 1987 to 2002.
He originated the roles of Nicky, Trekkie Monster, and Blue Bad Idea Bear in Avenue Q, a Broadway play for which he designed and created the puppets. In fall 2005, he reprised his roles in the production of the show in Las Vegas. He also worked with Nickelodeon on the Stick Stickly project. He was the chief puppeteer for the first season of Comedy Central's television program Crank Yankers.
As an animatronic puppeteer for Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Lyon puppeteered Tokka in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and Mrs. Rockchewer in The Neverending Story III. He also puppeteered Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and was part of the team of uncredited NYC puppeteers for the film Men in Black. Rick has performed and built puppets for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, including sendups of Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Yoda, and a xenomorph in an "Alien" parody with Sigourney Weaver.
When Bobby Lopez and Jeff Marx presented highlights from their unproduced musical Kermit, Prince of Denmark to the BMI Workshop, they asked Rick Lyon to perform the songs for Kermit:
Lyon studied theater at Penn State University and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut International de la Marionnette in France.
==Henson Credits==
*Sesame Street (seasons 20-33): Bernie the Baker, Gus (2643, 2646), Blue Bird (puppetry), Pumpkin Man in a Tub (2711), Information Seeker (2725), Police Officer (2777), Little Pig ("Milk" pageant), Candy Machine Salesman (2863), Brown Bird (2870), Donkey in "Barn in the USA," Iago (3005), Fix-It Shop Customer (3123)
**Elmo's World: Computer Graphic Puppeteer
*Muppet Meeting Films
*Neat Stuff To Know & To Do
*Inner Tube: Chet
*Muppets Studios Presents: You're the Director: Penguins, Brutus; Robin the Frog and Kermit the Frog (some scenes, puppetry only)Rick Lyon on Facebook
*Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
*The Jim Henson Hour: 
**"Dog City"
**"The Song of the Cloud Forest"
*The Muppets at Walt Disney World: Frog
*The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
*Monster Hits!
*Rock & Roll!
*Sing, Hoot & Howl with the Sesame Street Animals
*Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game
*Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake: Big Bird (puppetry, in scenes with Oscar)Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show Episode 94: Rick Lyon (37:55) March 5, 2023
*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze: Tokka (puppetry)
*Muppet*Vision 3D: Rick, Penguin, Fish, Toy Soldier, Zoot (puppetry only), Miss Piggy (opening scene puppetry only)Rick Lyon and The Lyon Puppets Facebook post, May 17, 2019 — "Frank made up the names of the characters he'd call out - Chuck (which gave birth to the "up chuck" joke), Roy, Rick (because he couldn't think of a name for my dog), and all the penguins."Disney Marvels Podcast - Episode 136 - MuppetVision 3D's 30th Anniversary with Rick Lyon (00:32:19)
*Billy Bunny's Animal Songs
*1993 Royal Variety Performance: Bossman
*Sesame Street Stays Up Late
*Stars and Street Forever
*"Don't Forget to Watch the Movie"
*Bear in the Big Blue House (uncredited)
*Elmopalooza
*CinderElmo: Grover (puppetry only)Rick Lyon | Rick's Photo Album | Grover
*Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor
*Elmo's Magic Cookbook
*Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf
*Sesame English: Chicken in "Where's the Chicken?"
==External links==
*Official site
*Rick Lyon Puppets on Instagram and Facebook
==Sources==
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Category:Muppet Performers
Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers