Donald George Sahlin (June 19, 1928 – February 19, 1978) was a Muppet designer and builder who worked for

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'' ( ...

from 1962 to 1977. Sahlin died in New York of a heart attack. Muppets creator Jim Henson described Sahlin as "the man most responsible for the look of the Muppets." Sahlin began making puppets at age 11, initially building a shadow theater and cardboard figurines. As an adult he built several puppets for ''

Kukla, Fran and Ollie ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' is an early American television show using puppets. It was created for children, but was soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago bet ...

'' and created special effects sequences for films such as '' G.I. Blues'' and ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...

''. His first creation for Jim Henson was Rowlf the Dog, which he built in 1962 for a series of Purina Dog Chow commercials. Sahlin would go on to design and build most of the Muppet characters, including

Bert and Ernie Bert and Ernie are two List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet characters who appear together in numerous skits on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Ernie acts the role of the naivety, naïve and exuberant troublemaker, whil ...

Grover Grover is a blue Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally perfo ...

, and

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating catchphrases, such as "Me want cookie!" As ...

among others. His character designs are often recognizable for their

spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface (mathematics), surface obtained by Surface of revolution, rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with t ...

heads partially bisected to create large mouths. Sahlin was also involved in special effects production for the Muppets. Henson later had a bench in London dedicated to his memory. The series finale of ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...

'' is also dedicated to him. After all the regular credits have been shown, a special credit appears which reads "This show is for Don Sahlin".''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'' Season One DVD

References

External links

* Muppet designers 1928 births 1978 deaths People from Stratford, Connecticut American special effects people Puppet designers {{US-artist-stub