Wednesday, June 3, 1970

Musical Artist - Clash, Kevin

Kevin Clash is an American Muppeteer, producer, and director best known for performing the character Elmo on Sesame Street. Clash got his start working on Captain Kangaroo and the Great Space Coaster, but when those shows ceased production he began working with Jim Henson.

Clash performed a couple of roles in the movie Labyrinth and a few stand-in "anything Muppets" on Sesame Street, but by 1985 he took over performing the character of Elmo, which became his signature character. In short order Clash became the exclusive performer of Elmo until he resigned from Sesame Street in 2012. As Elmo's popularity grew, Clash's responsibilities on Sesame Street did as well, as he became a writer, director, and co-producer of the Elmo's World segment of the show and eventually became the senior Muppet coordinator. In addition to performing the character Elmo for Sesame Street, Clash also performed the characters Clifford, Hoots the Owl, Baby Natasha, and Dr. Nobel Price

Despite his many duties on Sesame Street, Clash managed to appear in many other projects over the course of his career. He worked the 1990 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, providing the voice for Master Splinter. He performed Clifford in The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight, and as a variety of characters in Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. He also performed characters on the sitcom Dinosaurs. More recently, he performed in the film The Happytime Murders.

Clash resigned from Sesame Street amid allegations of sexual improprieties. An internal investigation by Sesame Workshop found the allegations to be unsubstantiated, and the lawsuits that were filed against Clash were all dismissed on procedural grounds. He has returned to doing work with the Henson organization, although not on Sesame Street. As part of his response to the allegations, Clash publicly came out as gay in 2012.

Clash has a page on the Muppet Wiki. he can also be found on Facebook and IMDb.

Musical Monday Selections:

02/19/18: Just One Person with Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire

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