Kevin Clash

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Kevin Clash (born September 17, 1960, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA^[1]) is a puppeteer best known for his portrayal of the character Elmo on the children's television show Sesame Street.

Kevin Clash, one of four children, was raised in the Turners Station neighborhood of Dundalk, Maryland and is a graduate of Dundalk High School. His father George was a welder, and his mother Gladys ran a daycare out of their their two-bedroom, one-bathroom house.[1]. He is divorced, and has one daughter named Shannon (born 1993). His career was launched on the Baltimore based show Caboose by Stu Kerr.

Clash also played Baby Sinclair on the series Dinosaurs, and did the voice work for Goriddle Gorilla in The Great Space Coaster as well as for Splinter in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. In The Muppets franchise, his most famous character is Clifford, who first appeared in the The Jim Henson Hour and later fronted Muppets Tonight. He was also spotlighted on NPR in September 2006 and discussed his life playing Elmo.

Clash won Daytime Emmy awards in 1990, 2005, and 2006 for "Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series". He has won frequently as co-executive producer of Sesame Street, in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Elmo, as well as Kevin Clash with Elmo, have regularly appeared on Australian television variety show Rove Live. Clash and Elmo were on the 27 February 06 "Real People Behind The Big Names" episode of the Oprah Winfrey show.

In the 23 August 2006 New York Times Arts section, Mr. Clash was the subject of a New York Times profile connected to his book, My Life as a Furry Red Monster. The book was published on September 5, 2006.

On September 30, 2006, Mr. Clash and Elmo appeared in the 'Not My Job' segment of the NPR program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

[edit] Quotes

"I'm Elmo, dang it! I'd like to use that line to get into a restaurant." -- Clash joking to People magazine.^[2]

"Elmo can't die. Only I can." —Clash on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Gliatto, Tom. "Elmo Saves Christmas", People, December 23, 1996., accessed in EBSCOhost.
^ Gliatto, Tom. "Elmo Saves Christmas", People, December 23, 1996.