Don Austen (born 19 January 1958) is an English
puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
. Austen joined the
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...
''. He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including ''
Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985), ''
The Little Shop of Horrors
''The Little Shop of Horrors'' is a 1960 American Comedy horror, horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The ...
'' (1986), ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
'' (1988), ''
The Bear'' (''L'ours'') (1988), ''
The Witches'' (1990), and ''
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999).
Most notably he performed in ''
The Muppet Christmas Carol
''The Muppet Christmas Carol'' is a 1992 American Christmas musical film produced and directed by Brian Henson (in his feature directorial debut). It is the fourth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1843 novella ''A Christma ...
'' (1992), inside both the
Ghost of Christmas Present
The Ghost of Christmas Present is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is one of three spirits that appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of Redemption (theology), redemption.
...
and The
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is the last of the three spirits that appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of redemption, foretold ...
. He also managed briefly to boost numbers in ''
Muppet Treasure Island
''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American Musical film, musical Swashbuckler film, swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson and the fifth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Ro ...
'' (1996) as Pirate Crew and Cannibals.
Career
Austen's British TV debut was on the irreverent cult
ITV puppet show ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...
''. (1987–90)
Austen voiced and puppeteered
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
's ''DJ Kat'' for more than 2000 award-winning ''
DJ Kat Show''s (1989–95) and 200 breakfast shows as ''Earl E Bird'' on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''Early Bird'' (1991).
Austen voiced/puppeteered feline gang leader Danny Mogg (1991) in comedy drama series ''The Wild Bunch''. This TF1/Channel 4 co-production, recorded at
AB Studios Paris, was a vehicle for French TV star
Dorothee.
During ITV's Saturday morning show ''
What's Up Doc?'' (1992–94) Austen teamed up with
John Eccleston to write and puppeteer a run of British TV favourites. Firstly, ''The Wolves'', aka
Bro & Bro, and within weeks earn their own spin-off comedy drama ''
Wolf It!'' (1993–96) for four seasons.
Austen and Eccleston joined
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
's Saturday morning 3hr flagship
Live & Kicking
''Live & Kicking'' was a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...
(1995–2000) as cantankerous
Leprechauns Sage & Onion – built by
Darryl Worbey Studios – while that other Irish phenomenon,
Riverdance
''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...
, packed houses in London's Theatreland. As Mr. Sage, sporting a rather dodgy hairpiece, Austen wrote and puppeteered comedy sketches for five years. Outliving three sets of in vision presenters, he became the longest surviving 'presenter' (Eccleston took time out to perform
Rygel in the sci-fi series
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American Science fiction on television, science fiction television series conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, originally for the Nine Network. It prem ...
).
To cover Eccleston's sojourn an overbearing long lost sister joined the cast. 'Shamrock' was puppeteered by
Rebecca Nagan. This series, hosted by
Zoe Ball
Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...
and
Jamie Theakston
James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...
, won a
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
in 1999. The Leps, as they were affectionately known, guest-starred on a wide range of British TV shows including The
French and Saunders
''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...
Christmas Special: The Making Of Titanic (1998),
Jim Davidson
James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows '' Big Break'' and '' The Generation Game''. In 2014 he was the winner of the 13th series of ''Cel ...
's ''
The Generation Game
''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes.
The game
There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's me ...
'' (1998), The
National Lottery National Lottery may refer to:
*National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland
*National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom
*South African National Lottery, established in 2000
*A number of countries con ...
(1998), and
GMTV
GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...
for St. Patrick's Day Celebrations (1998 and 1999)
During 1999, Austen was hand-picked by master puppeteer
Frank Oz
Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...
to help him portray
Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film '' The Empire Strikes Back'', in which he is voiced and puppeteered by F ...
in ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace''. For this complex puppet, Oz needed three helpers, including Austen,
David Greenaway and Katherine Smee.
Next was a return to the Henson fold, and all 250 episodes of BAFTA winning TV series ''
The Hoobs
''The Hoobs'' is a live-action/animated children's television series created and produced by The Jim Henson Company, Decode Entertainment and Channel 4. total of 250 episodes were produced across five series.
Plot
The series stars five extrate ...
'' (2000–02). Here he voiced and puppeteered the excitable, vulnerable purple Hoob,
Iver
Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
, alongside Eccleston as Groove. The production was the largest ever pre-school commission by a UK independent. It gained Gemini Award nominations for three consecutive years, "Best Performance in a Pre-School Series." (Shared).
Austen's penchant for live TV was seen again, year round, on the Saturday morning ITV series,
Ministry of Mayhem (2005) voicing and puppeteering Scratch – one half of riotous duo ''
The Hyenas'', Scratch & Sniff, a third Austen-Eccleston collaboration.
MOM changed its format and was renamed
Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown (2006), retaining presenters
Holly Willoughby
Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She has presented various television shows for ITV, most notably '' This Morning'' (2009–2023) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 201 ...
and
Stephen Mulhern
Stephen Daniel Mulhern (born 4 April 1977) is an English television presenter, entertainer, magician and comedian.
He began his career at CITV presenting the children’s television shows '' Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and '' Tricky TV'' (2005� ...
from the previous outing. Scratch featured largely in the slimmed down line up. Austen was also called upon to write and voice the game commentary to 'Supermarket Sneak' and, further to his portrayal of Ozzy Osbourne on MOM, performed in vision as Igor, a larger than life dancing Russian Cossack.
Austen notched up 6 series as voice and puppeteer on CBBC's ''
Basil Brush Show'' (2002–2007) playing evil
Cousin Mortimer and naughty nephews Bingo and Bungo. The show was shortlisted for a BAFTA in 2006. Basil & Bingo performed at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
for the
Children's Party at the Palace
The Children's Party at the Palace was an event organised by Peter Orton of Hit Entertainment and David Johnstone of DJI consult, held in the Garden at Buckingham Palace on 25 June 2006 in honour of the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The ...
(2006).
Austen puppeteered
Wooly the Sheep in the
Woolworths TV/radio commercials (2003–08) with Eccleston as sidekick
Worth the Dog. The ad campaigns were shot in London and Prague.
The Hyenas recorded 15 gameshows for
Granada Kids – CITV (2006)
In 2006, Austen and Eccleston worked on a pilot for
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
.
In 2007 The Leprechauns returned for the Christmas Puppet Special of the BBC's ''
The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
''. They were voted off after the first round.
In January 2008, Austen and Eccleston were invited to join the newly commissioned
Fur TV
Fur TV is a British comedy adult puppet show aired in 2008 on MTV One. The show uses Muppet-style puppetry where the characters are shown to undertake activities such as drinking and having sex.
Production
Originally a short film created by Chr ...
team for MTV, performing the outrageous puppet characters Fat Ed and Mervin respectively.
In April 2008 International action hero Jackie Chan joined Austen and Eccleston in their latest Woolworths TV commercial.
Austen flew out to Sydney (2010) to join Australian puppeteers on the CBBC, Jim Henson, Sticky Productions, ''Me and My Monsters''. He played the role of Haggis providing the voice whilst inhabiting the enormous orange furball. Colleague David Collins controlled the animatronic eyes from off camera.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austen, Don
1958 births
Living people
Entertainers from Birmingham, West Midlands
English puppeteers
English male voice actors