Musical Artist - Goelz, Dave

Dave Goelz is an American Muppeteer best known for his portrayal of the character the Great Gonzo. Originally hired by Henson associates in 1973 as a puppet builder, Goelz moved to performing when the Muppet Valentine Show was created for ABC, playing the character Brewster. He designed and built several characters for the The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, including the host Nigel, and performed Zoot, who would become one of his signature characters.

In 1976, Goelz became part of the cast of The Muppet Show, and premiered his most prominent character the Great Gonzo, as well as the recurring characters Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beauregard the janitor. Goelz spent the first season of the show splitting time between performing and working in the Muppet design workshop, but by the second season he was exclusively a performer. In 1977, Goelz performed the characters Pop-Eyed Catfish, Wendell Porcupine, and Will Possum on the Muppet production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Goelz continued to perform his array of characters in the feature films The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and by 1983 he was cast as one of the leads in the series Fraggle Rock, playing Boober Fraggle. In addition to performing Boober, Goelz also played Uncle Traveling Matt and the World's Oldest Fraggle on the show. Goelz also appeared in the movies The Dark Crystal in which he performed the Garthim Master SkekUng and Fizzgig, and Labyrinth in which he notably performed the part of Sir Didymus.

After Jim Henson died in 1990, Goelz took over performing Waldorf. He continued to appear in Muppet productions including Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted. Though he is in his seventies, Goelz continues to perform both as a Muppeteer and a voice actor, most recently providing voice work for the 2015 film Inside Out.

As one might expect, Goelz has a page on the Muppet Wiki. He can also be found on the Internet Movie Database.

Musical Monday Selections:

08/27/12: Just One Person with Kevin Clash, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire

Musical Monday      Musical Artists - G     Musical Artists A-Z     Home