Steve Whitmire

It was during the last season of The Muppet Show that Steve Whitmire-performer of such quirky characters as Rizzo the Rat-began to establish himself as a puppeteer of outstanding ability.
"It was the winter of 1978, Jim flew me to New York to meet him and Frank Oz and to do an informal audition. I was nineteen years old and had been an obsessed Muppet fan for eight years.
I got to the Henson offices at about 8:30 in the morning. I pressed the button. Suddenly, there was a rude buzzing noise. Now, I had never encountered a door with a remote locking mechanism, so I had no idea that when the buzzer sounded, I was supposed to pull the door open. In fact, I thought I had set off an alarm! the buzzing stopped. I thought for a beat, then pushed the button again. 'BUZZ!' came the sound.
"Suddenly, the door flew open. There was Jim Henson, squinting from his first dose of sunlight for the day. His hair was scruffy and his clothes were wrinkled. He had a broom in his hands. I smiled, offered my hand, and said, 'Hi! I'm Steve Whitmire from Atlanta.' He looked puzzled. 'The puppeteer...?' I said.
"'Oh, sure. Come in,' he said. 'Children sometimes play with the buzzer.'
"Inside, a wooden staircase went straight up three floors. Years later, I learned that Jim had worked late the night before and spent the night in the office. He had just woken up and was sweeping the stairs!"

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