Kevin Clash

Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer, director, and producer. He gained fame for his role as the puppeteer of Elmo on Sesame Street from 1985 to 2012. Clash's interest in puppetry developed at a young age, and he performed on local television children's shows in Baltimore, Maryland during his teenage years. In the early 1980s, he joined the cast of Captain Kangaroo and began working on Sesame Street in 1984. Clash became the fifth puppeteer to bring Elmo to life, and he also served as an executive producer and director for the show. He has worked on various Muppet productions, as well as Labyrinth, Dinosaurs, and Oobi. Clash published his autobiography, My Life as a Furry Red Monster, in 2006 and was featured in the documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011).