When both of your parents are puppeteers, you don’t have much choice other than to follow in their footsteps. If you don’t, they’ll simply pull some strings. It makes sense then that Frank Oz is well known as a puppeteer, especially for his work with Jim Henson on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. He is the man behind Miss Piggy, and his wacky sense of humour shines through in the character Fozzie Bear. Oz is less well known as the performer behind the smallest Jedi Knight, Yoda, of Star Wars fame. As Yoda himself would have said if asked, “Frank Oz, like I. To speak like this he taught me, and responsible for developing my character, he was. Yes, hmmm.”
Oz made the move into directing with The Dark Crystal, employing the most advanced puppets ever created for a movie. This eighties movie is still a hit with many younger fans. He went on to make the delightfully dark and uproariously funny Little Shop of Horrors, starring Rick Moranis and a five meter tall plant that took up to 40 puppeteers to operate. His later films include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and What about Bob?, but an all-time favourite for the children is The Indian in the Cupboard, which tells the story of a toy that comes alive.
Frank Oz
Born: May 25, 1943. Hereford, England.
Frank Oz has worked with Eddie Murphy on the off-beat comedy Bowfinger, and was behind the stilted remake of The Stepford Wives, starring Nicole Kidman. His latest offering, Death at a Funeral, is a screwball comedy that just doesn’t let up. As one film critic put it, ”This film is flawed, but I’m willing to forgive a lot of flaws when a movie makes me laugh as much as this one.”
Shoot for the Heart 