Martin P. Robinson

Martin P. Robinson (born March 9, 1954) is an American puppeteer who works for the Jim Henson Company. He is best known for his work on Sesame Street, having performed the characters of Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm Slimey, Oscar's niece Irvine, Buster the Horse, and Shelley the Turtle for over 40 years.^[1][2][3] He performed the characters Riff the Cat and Clef the dad on Allegra's Window, and was an animatronic puppeteer for Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[4]

Martin P. Robinson
Born	(1954-03-09) March 9, 1954 (age 70) Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.
Other names	Marty Robinson
Education	American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Annie Evans ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	5
Website	http://www.martinprobinson.com/

Early life

Robinson was born on March 9, 1954, in Dearborn, Michigan. His father was a hydraulics engineer and his mother was a teacher. He grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Brookfield East High School in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee.^[5] He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1974. Robinson originally intended to become a character actor, but work was scarce. He later toured with a marionette company, eventually working under puppeteer Bil Baird.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Robinson married Sesame Street writer Annie Evans on August 9, 2008, on the set of Sesame Street in the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. Evans gave birth to twin daughters on February 12, 2009. Robinson also has three children from a previous marriage and two grandchildren.^[6] He and his family live in Redding, Connecticut.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Year	Production	Role	Notes
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Swedish Chef (hands), Buster the Horse, Additional Muppets	Performer
1985	Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Board of Birds Member, Grouch Diner Patron, Additional Muppets	Performer
1990	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Leonardo	Facial assistant[8]
1999	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Telly Monster, Laundromat Manager, Little Ricky	Performer
2008	A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa	Crazy Harry, Additional Muppets	Performer, voice

Television

Year(s)	Production	Role	Notes
1981–present	Sesame Street	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Slimey the Worm, Buster the Horse, Irvine, Mrs. Grouch, Dicky Tick, Vincent Twice, Old MacDonald, Freddy, Additional Muppets	Performer[9]
1983	Don't Eat the Pictures	Mr. Snuffleupagus	Performer; Television special[10]
1985	Little Muppet Monsters	Rat, Cow, Walrus, Additional Muppets	Performer
1986	The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years	Telly Monster	Performer (uncredited); Television special
1986	The Tale of the Bunny Picnic	Farmer, Additional Muppets	Performer; Television special
1987	A Muppet Family Christmas	Additional Muppets	Performer; Television special
1988	The Transformers	Powermaster Optimus Prime	Puppeteer (season 5)
1990	The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson	Telly Monster, Additional Muppets	Performer; Television special
1994–1996	Allegra's Window	Riff, Clef	Voice, performer
1996	Elmo Saves Christmas	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Santa's Elf, Additional Muppets	Performer; Television special
1998	The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	The Cat in the Hat	Performer (season 2)[8]
2002	Between the Lions	Grandpa Lion	Performer, Episode: "Out in Outer Space"
2009, 2013	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	Mr. Snuffleupagus, Additional Muppets	Performer; 2 episodes
2013	Good Morning America	Telly Monster	Performer; 1 episode
2015	Saturday Night Live	Mr. Snuffleupagus	Voice (uncredited)
2019–2023	Helpsters	Mr. Primm	Performer[8]
2020	The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo	Telly Monster, Freddy	Performer
2021	Law & Order: Organized Crime	Octopus	Puppeteer #1; 1 episode

Video games

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Sesame Street: Numbers	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus	Voice role
1996	Get Set to Learn!	Telly Monster, Martian
1998	The Three Grouchketeers	Telly Monster
2001	Sesame Street: Sports
	Sesame Street: Letters	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus
2011	Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster	Slimey the Worm
2012	Kinect Sesame Street TV	Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Martian

Other appearances

Year(s)	Production	Role	Notes
1981	Muppet Meeting Films	Papa Luigi	Short film
1982, 2003	Little Shop of Horrors	Audrey II	Puppeteer in the original 1982 off-Broadway and 2003 Broadway productions[8][11]
1988	Jim Henson's Play-Along Video	Crocodile, Raccoon, Additional Muppets	Performer; Direct-to-video series
2003	Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic	Telly Monster	Performer, theme park film

See also

• List of Sesame Street puppeteers

References

1. "A Brief History of Sesame Street's Snuffleupagus Identity Crisis".
2. "Mr. Snuffleupagus shocked 'Sesame Street' 30 years ago — and generations of kids should be thankful – Zap2It". Zap2it. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
3. "Snuffleupagus Speaks! It's Master Puppeteer Martin P. Robinson". Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
4. Martin P. Robinson at IMDb
5. "A Hot, Sweaty Job in a Plant, Eating People".
6. Vows - Annie Evans and Martin Robinson, New York Times, August 16, 2008.
7. "This Brookfield native has played some of your favorite 'Sesame Street' characters for almost 40 years".
8. "Martin Robinson (Aloysius Snuffleupagus, Slimey the Worm, Telly) - Sesame Workshop". November 1, 2023. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
9. "Sesame Street: Brookfield native plays Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster". November 9, 2019. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
10. "DON'T EAT THE PICTURES: SESAME STREET AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (TV)". www.paleycenter.org. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
11. "Muppet Central News - Marty Robinson and "Little Shop of Horrors" arrive on Broadway". October 17, 2003. Archived from the original on October 17, 2003. Retrieved July 7, 2024.

External links

• Martin P. Robinson at IMDb

Preceded by Michael Earl Davis	Performer of Mr. Snuffleupagus 1980–present	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Brian Muehl	Performer of Telly Monster 1984–present	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of Mommy Snuffleupagus ca. 1980s	Succeeded by David Rudman
Preceded by Joey Mazzarino	Performer of Papa Bear 2020–present	Succeeded by ?