Camilla the Chicken

**Camilla the Chicken** is the love of Gonzo's life. Her proper introduction on *The Muppet Show* is in episode 318 when she and Gonzo have their first date, and it leads to trouble. She was previously seen and mentioned by name in episode 305 during the jousting scene, and in episode 309 when Gonzo attempted to audition her and another chicken named Nellie for Liberace's concert (he eventually agrees to sign them on for his Las Vegas act).

As Miss Piggy started out as one of a number of pigs, and Rizzo as one of many rats, Camilla evolved out of a group of chickens used on *The Muppet Show* as background Muppets. Before being named in episode 309, a precursor to Camilla appeared in episode 303 replacing Gonzo in the Pigs in Space sketch, and as Gonzo's dancing partner in episode 305 (played by Dave Goelz). Even as far back as episode 217, Gonzo finds love with a chicken when he sings "Won't Somebody Dance with Me" at the dance.

Gonzo loves Camilla, but sometimes he chases after other chickens, because he's not always sure which chicken is which. After all, "they all look the same." Whenever a scene with Camilla was shot, nobody could remember what color Camilla's eyes were, so Dave Goelz and Jim Henson devised a theory that Gonzo could not tell the chickens apart, and Gonzo would just assume that whatever chicken was with him was Camilla.

*The Muppet Movie* marked Camilla's big screen debut, introduced as Gonzo's companion in his plumbing business. In *The Muppets Take Manhattan*, she's briefly taken hostage by Martin Price, an incident that requires Gonzo to giver her mouth-to-beak resuscitation. Performing in The Muppet Telethon in *The Muppets*, Camilla leads a group of chickens in singing "Forget You". After Constantine (pretending to be Kermit the Frog) proposes to Miss Piggy in *Muppets Most Wanted*, Camilla asks Gonzo when they'll get married. Gonzo tells her, when he's a millionaire (again).

Camilla lives alone in a gazebo-like house called "Camilla's Place", where she sits on a nest in the middle of an otherwise empty floor. However, she appears to spend a good deal of time at the Bide-A-Wee Trailer Court.

On *Muppet Babies*, Camilla is a rag doll that sometimes comes to life in Baby Gonzo's imagination. In the 2018 reboot of the series, Camilla appears as an actual chick, accompanied by fellow hens Priscilla and Beep.

Merchandise of Camilla includes an action figure packed with Palisades' Series 5 Gonzo, a Mega Camilla Action Figure, a plush doll by Sababa, and a statue designed by Jim Shore.

## Casting History

**Main Performers**

* Jerry Nelson - *The Muppet Show* (1978) to *Muppets Party Cruise* video game (2003)
* Matt Vogel - *Classical Chicken* (2008) to present

**Alternate Performers**

* Steve Whitmire - *Gonzo and the Giant Chicken* audio edition (1982)
* Richard Hunt - *Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff* (1985)
* Alice Dinnean - *The Muppets' Wizard of Oz* (2005)
* Peter Linz - *America's Got Talent* (2014)

## Filmography

* *The Muppet Show*
	+ Episode 318: Leslie Uggams
	+ Episode 411: Lola Falana
	+ Episode 505: James Coburn (salute to the Roaring '20s)
	+ Episode 511: Paul Simon (with Fraggle Rock Closing Music)
* *The Tonight Show*, guest hosted by Kermit
* *The Muppet Movie*
* Polaroid commercial
* *I Love Liberty*
* *The Muppets Take Manhattan*
* *Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff*
* *Little Muppet Monsters*
	+ Episode 102: Space Cowboys
* *The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years*
* *A Muppet Family Christmas*
* *The Jim Henson Hour*
	+ Episode 108: Videotape
* *The Muppets at Walt Disney World*
* *The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson*
* *Muppets Tonight*
	+ Episode 106: Tony Bennett
	+ Episode 206: Paula Abdul
* *Children in Need*
* *Muppets Party Cruise*
* *Extreme Makeover: Home Edition*
* *The Muppets' Wizard of Oz*
* *The Muppets*
* *Good Morning America*
* *Studio DC Hosted by Selena Gomez*
* *A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa*
* *Saturday Night Live*
* "Bohemian Rhapsody"
* *Kermit's Party*
* Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. commercial
* *The Case of the Stolen Show*
* *Just for Laughs*
* "All I Need is Love"
* *Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular*
* *Robbie Williams: One Night at the Palladium*
* Toyota commercial
* *Muppets Most Wanted*
* *America's Got Talent*
* *Kodachrome*
* *The Muppets*
	+ Episode 112: A Tail of Two Piggies
	+ Episode 114: Little Green Lie
	+ Episode 116: Because... Love
* *The Muppets Take the Bowl*
* *The Muppets Take the O2*
* Facebook Portal commercials
* *Muppets Now*

## Book appearances

* *The Muppets Go Camping* (1981)
* *Muppet Manners* (1981)
* *Gonzo and the Giant Chicken* (1981)
* *Gonzo the Great* (1989)
* *Fozzie's Funnies* (1993)
* *Muppet Time* (1996)
* *Muppet Peter Pan* (2009)
* *Green and Bear It* (2012)
* *Kermit's Costume Caper* (2012)
* *Easter Eggstravaganza!* (2013)
* *The Muppets Character Encyclopedia* (2014)
* *Muppets Meet the Classics: The Phantom of the Opera* (2017)
* *Muppets Meet the Classics: Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm* (2018)