Muppets' Real Names

[Sidebottom]

Okay. This thread started back when the Muppet Central Forum was still on Delphi, and it kind of died out. But I'd like to revive it. Basically what we were doing was discussing the "real" names and "full" names of certain Muppets, as evidenced from many, many diverse sources. Here's what we came up with (some of these are Sesame Street characters). I've listed them last name first, to distinguish, for instance, Kermit the Frog (whose last name is "the Frog") from Oscar the Grouch (whose middle name is "the" and whose last name is "Grouch").

KERMIT: The Frog, Kermit
PIGGY: Lee, Pigathius
FAT BLUE: Johnson, Fred
SIMON SOUNDMAN: Johnson, Simon
OSCAR: Grouch, Oscar The
DR. TEETH: Dontshoot, Leon Eltonjohn

And obviously, we already know the full names of a lot of Muppets, among them Bunsen Honeydew, Lewis Kazagger, Floyd Pepper, Aloysius Snuffleupagus, Alice Snuffleupagus, and all the Sesame Street Monsters (their last names are all "Monster").

But are there any other "real" or "full" names that we can come up with? For instance, are Statler and Waldorf their last names or their first names? I seem to recall somebody mentioning (a long time ago) that Waldorf once called Statler "Roy", in which case his name would be "Roy Statler", and the names we call them would be their last names. (Can somebody confirm this "Roy" thing for me?) And if this is true, then I guess Astoria's full name would be "Astoria Waldorf", a complete inversion from the hotel name.

Any thoughts on this or anything else?

Happy New Year!
-Sidebottom

[Daffyfan2003]

Good thoughts. I knew Fat Blue was a Mr. Johnson. As for Miss Piggy, I know she was addressed as Piggy Lee in the Jim Nabors episode, but I didn't know she's been called "Pigathius." I hadn't even thought of Waldorf and Statler as their last names, but that's a possibility. Also, as someone mentioned before, the Swedish Chef had a long Swedish name but they called him Tom. (At least Danny Kaye did) Let's see what else I can come up with. Scooter's last name is probably Groose if his uncle is on his father's side of the family. Hmmmmmm.

[scarecroe]

Here are some obvious ones...

• Sergeant Floyd Pepper
• Dr. Julius Strangepork (, MD?.. what kind of doctor is he anyway?)
• Gonzo the Great, aka, The Great Gonzo
• Bebop da Biddiliy Bop Dog (I know I'm way off here, someone will provide the correct name)

I know Pigathius comes from the Avery Schrieber episode, but where does Leon Eltonjohn Dontshoot come from?

[Skeeter Muppet]

Scooter Grosse? Nope, don't like it, don't like it at all. I always figured J.P. was his uncle on his mother's side myself. It'd be really funny if Scooter had a long name a la Charles Emerson Winchester III from M*A*S*H. Like, Scooter Horatio Wellington or something like that. Heck, Scooter could probably even be just his nickname. So the irony would be, here's this kid who's heir to this huge estate, and he's working backstage at a variety show!

(the mind boggles. Not at that; just that I came up with it.)


-Kim

[punkNpuppets]

Bear, Fozzie
Count Von Count

and how bout this -

Guy Smiley - Bernie Liederkrantz
(no joke)

[wockawocka]

Is Kermit's last name really "The Frog"? I've seen him called Kermit T. Frog a lot. So, I figured T., or The, was his middle name. Those Miss Piggy and Guy Smiley ones are interesting.

[Beauregard]

Who said that Oscer the Grouch's middle name is Grouch.

The truth is that he IS a Grouch so it's like saying Big Bird the Bird, THE QUESTION is what is his last name. (Stadler: The question is who cares?)

[Sidebottom]

Regarding Dr. Teeth:

In an early sketch of Dr. Teeth by Jim Henson, before the puppet was created, he is referred to as:

Leon "Doctor" Eltonjohn Dontshoot (The Piano Player)

Get it? Elton John's "Don't Shoot the Piano Player"? I guess afterwards his nickname was changed from just "Doctor" to "Doctor Teeth", but I don't think there's any reason to believe that his full name hasn't changed.

If you have the book "The Art of the Muppets", the picture is in there. I think it MIGHT be shown in "Of Muppets and Men" too, but I'm not positive.

Regarding Guy Smiley:

Oh yeah, how could I forget that one? "They call me the Count because I love to count things." "And they call me Guy Smiley because I changed my name from Bernie Ledercranz!"

Regarding Kermit:

It's an interesting case. His name has been listed as "Kermit T. Frog", implying that "The" is his middle name. However, Lew Zealand (and others?) often call him "Mr. The Frog", implying that "The Frog" is his last name. So I guess it's hard to say.

Regarding Oscar:

What I said was not that his middle name was Grouch, but that his LAST name is Grouch. His middle name is "The". It's like the "Kermit T. Frog" thing -- Oscar's name was written on a playbill or something that he had drawn up on some episode of "Sesame Street" many years ago, and he was referred to there as "Oscar T. Grouch".

Normally, I'd agree with Beauregard when he says "The truth is that he IS a Grouch so it's like saying Big Bird the Bird". In most cases, i.e. for most characters, this would be true. However, in this particular case, his name has been listed (and on the actual show, no less) as "Oscar T. Grouch". As for other characters... who knows.

Keep the discussion comin', everyone.

Peace,
-Sidebottom

P.S. Oh yeah, and all the Fraggles' last names are "Fraggle". But I wonder about the first names of characters like the World's Oldest Fraggle and the Storyteller Fraggle. I mean, obviously the World's Oldest is a title adopted when he actually IS the world's oldest; he can't have been born with that name. I'd say that the Storyteller is also a title; then again, she was already called the Storyteller as a child in that flashback episode ("Born to Wander"). So maybe it is a title, but it's acquired at a young age. Who knows?

[TravellingMatt]

All the Fraggles' last names are "Fraggle". This was confirmed when Uncle Travelling Matt returned to the Rock and discovered the portal leading to "Outer Space". This portal was dubbed the "T. Matthew Fraggle Room" or something to that extent.

Guy Smiley's real name is in fact Bernie Liedenkrantz, making him one of two (confirmed) Jewish Muppets, the other being the rabbi that Fozzie pulled out of a hat in an episode of TMS.

I don't know what kind of a doctor Strangepork is, but I like to think that when he's not on the set of Pigs In Space, he's a psychiatrist who dabbles in der schientific shtuff.

I just wonder what J.P. Grosse's first and middle initials stand for. I like to think the "J" stands for Joel, mainly because I have an Uncle Joel who owns several (movie) theatres, or at least a part of them.

[scarecroe]

[size=1]Originally posted by Sidebottom
"They call me the Count because I love to count things." "And they call me Guy Smiley because I changed my name from Bernie Ledercranz!"[/size]

LMAO! Now that's one for the quote books!

[FellowWLover]

Originally posted by TravellingMatt


Guy Smiley's real name is in fact Bernie Liedenkrantz, making him one of two (confirmed) Jewish Muppets, the other being the rabbi that Fozzie pulled out of a hat in an episode of TMS.

Baby Bear and family are Jewish.

[dwmckim]

The "Roy" thing is open to debate...it came from an early bit where Waldorf drowsily says something that sounds to some people like "Roy, wake me when the show starts" but i doubt it was meant to be Waldorf addressing Statler by the name Roy - but rather him making a sleepy sound like "hey" that didn't come out right, or "oy".

In the 1975 Muppet Meeting Films (done between Sex & Violence and TMS Season One), Waldorf appears (played by Jerry Nelson) and is referred to as P. Fenton Cosgrove. Obviously a case of a same puppet being used as two different "characters" but one could make the case that perhaps that is his real name and Waldorf is a nickname that came out of his friendship with Statler - making a written version of his full name look like P. Fenton "Waldorf" Cosgrove.

[Gonzo]

Originally posted by FellowWLover
Baby Bear and family are Jewish.

I think The Count is Jewish as well...possibly just because it's fun to count the Menorah candles. It could just be the whole Eastern European Jewry thing. But my memory is synthesizing something County and Jewish. I'll work on it.

Quinnnnnnnnnnn

[TravellingMatt]

The Count also mentioned something about gefilte fish in a recent "Number of the Day" segment too. Plus he is of Eastern European descent, so if he was Jewish, he'd be of the Ashkenazi branch.

I didn't know Baby Bear and family were Jewish. I know that Mr. Hooper was. I heard that in one Sesame Street special, Bob wished him a Happy Chanukah.

There has been a "Jewish" puppet on another non-Henson kids' show too...on "The Letter People" I strongly suspect that Mr. H is, because his song sounds like an Israeli hora, and he has that thick New York accent. (And one of the puppeteers who worked on that show is Allan Trautman, who has worked for Henson, among others.)

[Daffyfan2003]

Well, if you watch "Elmo's World: Happy Holidays." You'll see that Papa Bear and Baby Bear celebrate Chanukah as well.