May 25: Puppet Master
Puppeteer Frank Oz (Richard Frank Oznowicz) was born in Great Britain on this date in 1944. His parents were refugees from the Holocaust (his father was Jewish) who had fought the Nazis with the Dutch Brigades. A key collaborator for over thirty years with Jim Henson’s Muppets, Oz created Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear and performed on Sesame Street as Bert, Cookie Monster, and Grover, among others. Oz also helped to create the character of Yoda, the Jedi Master with the strange syntax in George Lucas’ Star Wars series. He directed the film version of Little Shop of Horrors, involving a carnivorous plant puppet that required up to 40 puppeteers, and has also directed Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, In & Out, What About Bob?, and several other movies.
“I was a weird kid. I should’ve been gay because I listened to a lot of Broadway musicals. I don’t know why I’m not gay.” —Frank Oz
Howard Lewis -
Additional Frank Oz trivia that will tickle the memory of older readers: Oz was the voice of the alcohol-befuddled Carlton the Doorman on the “Rhoda” TV show of the 1970s, itself something of a Jewish landmark. Rhoda Morgenstern was originally a character on the “Mary Tyler Moore” show. Rhoda’s Jewishness was never sidestepped. In one memorable episode the usually affable Mary bitterly accused her waspy friend Phyllis (played by Cloris Leachman) of discriminating against Rhoda because of anti-Semitism. Rhoda was played by Valerie Harper, who impeccably adopted the accent of an educated middle-class New York Jew. The actress said she had a musical ear and was Jewish in her heart — on Broadway she played Golda Meir. As a spin-off, “Rhoda” was immensely successful. The episode featuring Rhoda’s wedding was the most-watched TV program of the year.