birth_place birth_date yearsactive article_title name occupation
harlem , new york city , usa 15 september 1961 1983 -- present noel macneal
 noel macneal puppeteer , writer , actor , television director
noel macneal

noel macneal -lrb- born september 15 , 1961 -rrb- is an american puppeteer , writer , actor , and director of children 's television , best known as the voice and puppeteer of bear in `` bear in the big blue house '' and `` breakfast with bear '' .
he first came to public attention in the early 1980s .
on november 6 , 1999 , he married author susan elia at manhattan 's union theological seminary .
their son , matthew , was born in 2005 .
noel portrays the environmentally friendly character zozo a mascot for safer streets , green transportation and useful public spaces .
this jim henson designed and created walk around puppet is used by livable streets education to talk about these issues with young children and families .
among his characters are bear , mrs. -lrb- mommy -rrb- snuffleupagus and various snuffleupagus relatives on `` sesame street '' .
he has also been magellan , a baby dragon , on the ace award winning series `` eureeka 's castle '' on nick jr , leon macneal in `` the puzzle place '' ; raphael in `` teenage mutant ninja turtles iii '' and madame chairbird in the sesame street film `` follow that bird '' .
