Herry Monster

**Herry Monster** is a *Sesame Street* monster who doesn't know his own strength. Herry first appeared in season 2, effectively replacing the Beautiful Day Monster in the *Sesame* monster troupe.

In his earliest appearances, Herry's nose was covered with light blue fur as well. Eventually, he gained a non-furry blue nose, which was replaced by his signature purple nose in season 3. The Herry puppet was also used for the original Big Bad Wolf.

Although Herry had been performed by Jerry Nelson from the beginning, Jim Henson performed his voice in the song "Up and Down" with Cookie Monster (using a recycled soundtrack from *The Sesame Street Book & Record*, where the song was credited to "Two Monsters"), Caroll Spinney performed him in Episode 0142, and Richard Hunt performed him in the "Dialing for Prizes Movie" sketch. (First: Episode 0629)

Herry was often seen in Muppet & Kid Moments, relating to real children, and in later seasons appeared in the recurring sketch Monsters in Day Care. Herry has also participated in many of Prairie Dawn's pageants, as well as appearing in such *Monsterpiece Theater* segments as "Chariots of Fur," "Guys and Dolls," and "ABCD Blue."

His family consists of a mother, a father, a grandmother, a niece in Episode 1033, a sister named Herriet in Episode 1073, and a young sister named Flossie seen in several storybooks. (*See: Herry's family*). Herry also has an affinity for dolls, having taken custody of several over the years, the most prominent of which is his doll named Hercules.

Herry hosted the Fuzzy Awards in the video *Monster Hits!* and he was an anchorman in *We All Sing Together*.

Herry is known for appearing in illustrations (and some merchandise and on the *Sesame Street Live* productions) with pants on. Usually they would be white with pink stripes, but the costume used in *Sesame Street Live* would give Herry light blue pants, and illustrator Tom Cooke usually drew Herry in purple pants with orange spots. He hasn't been seen wearing pants elsewhere, and the few times he has been shown below the waist, he is unclothed, like most monsters.

Another attribute of the character from illustrated merchandise is that Herry was sometimes depicted as the proprietor of a barber shop on Sesame Street. Usually wearing a short-sleeved barber's shirt and his customary (for illustrations) striped pants, Herry could be seen working at Herry's Barber Shop in the 1983 book *People in Your Neighborhood*, a puzzle from Sony, the 1986 Rub n' Play transfer set, and the Busy Builders Playtown.

Like Cookie Monster, in rare instances Herry has taken to eating traditionally inedible objects, such as a bicycle, a cookie box, a restaurant table and the letter in M-M-M Monster Meal, but usually in the company of his googly-eyed friend.

Though Herry still makes occasional appearances in new episodes, he seldom plays a prominent role. He can be seen in *The Street We Live On* and made a cameo in Episode 4206 (puppeteered by Marty Robinson), in line at Hooper's Store.

In 2013, Herry made his first speaking appearance in a decade at the *From Broadway With Love* benefit concert, where he was performed by Tyler Bunch. Since 2015, Peter Linz has been cast in the role. Linz's first public performance as Herry was for a 2017 #ShareTheLaughter video. (YouTube) Herry has since made minor speaking appearances in episodes and specials, most notably Episode 4905 and *The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo*, serving as the bass player for the house band Mama Bear and the Monsters in season one.

Herry's birthday is August 31.