18 Facts About Steve Whitmire

Steven Lawrence Whitmire was born on September 24,1959 and is an American puppeteer and actor, known primarily for his work on The Muppets and Sesame Street.

Steve Whitmire first appeared at a pre-show event at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Steve Whitmire performed with his then alter-ego puppet Otis for the children waiting to see a multimedia show.

Steve Whitmire worked with puppets after graduating high school, and eventually got a job working on The Muppet Show in 1978.

Since then, Steve Whitmire performed in almost every major Henson company project, including non-Muppet projects such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Dinosaurs.

Steve Whitmire was personally asked by Brian Henson and Jane Henson to be Kermit's performer a few weeks after Jim Henson's death.

Muppet characters original to Steve Whitmire include Rizzo the Rat, Lips, Foo-Foo, Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket the Dog on Fraggle Rock, and Bean Bunny, a character that originated in The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.

Steve Whitmire voiced Link Hogthrob in the Muppet RaceMania and Muppets Party Cruise video games.

Steve Whitmire performed Link for the 2011 film The Muppets.

In 2008, Steve Whitmire took over another of Jim Henson's roles, The Muppet Newsman.

In July 2017, The Muppets Studio announced that Steve Whitmire was no longer involved with the Muppets and that fellow Muppet performer Matt Vogel was cast as Kermit's new performer.

Steve Whitmire revealed that he was dismissed from his roles in October 2016 because of undisclosed issues that he said had not been discussed before his dismissal.

Steve Whitmire expressed guilt for not dismissing Whitmire and recasting Kermit before selling the Muppets to Disney in 2004, "because I knew that it was going to be a real problem".

Lisa Henson stated that Steve Whitmire was opposed to having an understudy for Kermit and refused to train one, which became problematic when it came to "B-level performances, such as a ribbon-cutting," at some of which she said he was unwilling to appear.

Steve Whitmire stated that he "blackballed young performers" by refusing to appear in shows with them.

Steve Whitmire alleged that Disney offered him what he called "consolation prizes" if he voluntarily left, including honoring him as a Disney Legend, under the public pretense that he would be retiring from performing.

Steve Whitmire has expressed an interest in making amends and resuming his role with the Muppets in the future if possible.

Steve Whitmire has been married to Melissa Whitmire, whom he met during his senior year of attending Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Georgia, since June 1978.