Nikki Tilroe

Nikki Tilroe (1941–2005) was a puppeteer who was well known for her work in the United States and Canada. She performed in such Henson productions as Fraggle Rock and The Christmas Toy. Her professional partner, Kermit Love, was also a puppeteer, as is her surviving husband, R.D. Tilroe.

Working out of Toronto during the 1970s and '80s, Tilroe served as director for Frog Print Theater, where she received a Citation of Excellence for her direction of Mimi and Toto in 1974-75. She performed on a number of Canadian TV shows as well, including Today's Special and The Waterville Gang. She also performed the character of Mrs. Stuffynuff in the PBS series Funnybones.

She appeared on Shari Lewis' Charlie Horse Music Pizza and was one of three puppeteers to manipulate Snuggle Bear, a puppet designed by Love, in the fabric softener commercials. She also taught many courses on Manipulation technique through the O'Neill Puppetry Conference, and was a contributor for the book Puppets and Television.

She worked on the web-produced puppet films for Sammy Snail and in 2004 she received a Seed Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation for a production called Aging, produced with Larry Siegel through Tricinium Limited in Keene, New Hampshire.

Tilroe passed away in September of 2005, and a new scholarship fund has been set up in her honor. Pam Arciero, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Heather Henson, and Heather Asch were among the performers appearing at benefits for the fund.

Muppet/Henson credits[]

• Fraggle Rock: Merple Merggle, Yvette, background Fraggles
• The Christmas Toy: Ding-a-ling
• Follow That Bird: Board of Birds
• The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: background characters in "The Simplifier"

External links[]

• IMDb
• As the Mime Lady on Today's Special
• O'Neill Puppetry Conference Bio
• As a White River School Artist in Residence
• Waterville Gang puppets
• 2004 Henson Grant recipients
• Sammy Snail