Caroly Wilcox

Caroly Wilcox (May 16, 1931 – January 9, 2021) began working in the New York Muppet Workshop in 1969, as work on Sesame Street began. Wilcox originally worked as an occasional puppeteer (assisting on Ernie and performing in such skits as "First and Last") as well as building and designing. According to Quilting with the Muppets, she also made occasional cameos as a bus driver.

Wilcox became the workshop supervisor for the Sesame Muppets, and remained in that post until her retirement in 1990. Her 1979 design sketch for a red monster would eventually become a star character as Elmo.^[1] As with the other designers, not all of her ideas reached fruition: she conceived and drew "Snuffy's Baby Brother," to be operated by one smaller person and "having only two legs when young (tadpole like). Mature is 4."^[2]

She was also a key designer/builder for The Muppet Show and movies, notably directing the creation of a special Miss Piggy puppet for use in the underwater scenes in The Great Muppet Caper.^[3] In many cases, her task involved the practical side, adding annotations to help translate character sketches by Jim Henson into physical puppets, noting how a performer should operate a character, and even coordinating the options for shooting the parachute drop in Great Muppet Caper. Wilcox was viewed as the expert Muppet maker; she trained many of the Muppet builders.

She was interviewed in Behind the Scenes in Frogtown Hollow and a 2020 live-stream event for the Museum of the Moving Image. (YouTube) Jane Gootnick shared her memories of Wilcox the day after her passing on The Barretta Brothers vodcast. (YouTube)

Muppet/Henson credits[]

Designer/Builder

• Sesame Street: Workshop Supervisor; designed Elmo, built Two-Headed Monster, The Martians, various monsters (including Kermit the Forg), many animals
• Variety show appearances
  • built The Snowths (with Don Sahlin) for The Ed Sullivan Show
  • sketch ideas for "A Change of Face" skit version on The Dick Cavett Show^[4]
• The Great Santa Claus Switch: Puppet construction
• The Frog Prince: Puppet costumes
• The Muppet Musicians of Bremen: Built Chickens, flocked hands for farmers,^[5] designed and built others
• The Muppets Valentine Show: built Mildred Huxtetter, Big Mouse
• Out to Lunch: Puppet designs/costumes
• Saturday Night Live: built Scred
• The Muppet Show: built Mildred Huxtetter, The Snowths, Sopwith the Camel, Doglion, Deer, Betsy Bird (with Cheryl Blaylock), technical design of shadow puppets (episode 205),^[6] and many others
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: built Harvey, Will Possum, muskrats, others
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
• The Muppet Movie: Muppet designer
• John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together: Lead designer/builder for Nativity Muppets
• The Great Muppet Caper: Muppet designer/builder; supervising aquatic Miss Piggy, other tasks
• The Muppets Go to the Movies: Muppet designer
• Fraggle Rock: Muppet designer, built Gobo Fraggle with Tim Miller
• Rocky Mountain Holiday: Muppet building
• Follow That Bird: built Miss Finch
• The Muppet Show: On Tour!: Underwater puppet design; adapting walk-around versions of Muppet characters^[7]
• Puppetman: built Earl (with Jitka Exler)

Puppeteer

• Sesame Street (credited seasons 7 and 8)
• The Great Santa Claus Switch: Blue Bird Frackle^[8]
• The Muppet Musicians of Bremen: Full-bodied Mean Floyd^[9]
• Julie on Sesame Street
• The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
• The Muppet Movie
• Sing Yourself Silly!

Gallery[]

See also[]

• Caroly Wilcox cameos

Sources[]

External links[]

• A Conversation with Caroly Wilcox, Puppetimes, October 2019
• Crafting the Creatures and Characters of Jim Henson’s World, Museum of the Moving Image, May 2020