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Kermit Ernest Hollingshead Love (August 7, 1916 – June 21, 2008) was an American
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
maker,
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 ...
, costume designer, and actor in children's television and on Broadway. He was best known as a designer and builder with the Muppets, in particular those on ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
''.


Early life

Love was born in Spring Lake,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
on August 7, 1916, to Ernest and Alice Love. He was raised by his grandmother and great-grandmother following his mother's death when he was three years old.


Career


Theater

Love began his theatrical career working as a marionette maker for a federal
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
theater in Newark,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
in 1935. He was also a costume designer for Broadway and other stage productions as in the 1930s, including the Mercury Theatre troupe with
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
. Love also appeared on stage in a bit part as a student for the 1937 play ''Naught Naught 00''. Love worked with many of the great figures of mid-century Broadway and American
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
. He was the costumer for the Agnes de Mille ballet ''
Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
'' (1942), for the Kurt Weill musical '' One Touch of Venus'' (1943), and for Merce Cunningham's ''The Wind Remains'' (1943) and Jerome Robbins's ballet '' Fancy Free'' (1944). For George Balanchine he designed, amongst other items, a marionette giant for ''
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'' (1965).


Jim Henson and the Muppets

During the early 1960s, Love first crossed paths with Jim Henson through Don Sahlin, who urged him to meet with Henson. The three first collaborated on the La Choy Dragon for advertising the chow mein brand, which was a precursor to Big Bird. Love's theatrical background had given him particular skill at handling full body-puppets and tailoring them to allow freedom for the performer's movements. From this, Love went on to build Oscar the Grouch and then Big Bird after a drawing was designed by Henson (though Sahlin had carved the first head). Love talked about how he designed Big Bird to subtly shed feathers in the course of normal movement, "Not unlike a tree shedding leaves in the Fall." He believed this made Big Bird appear more natural to young viewers. Love co-designed Cookie Monster and he designed Mr. Snuffleupagus. He accompanied the Big Bird costume (Love preferred calling it a "puppet") when it traveled overseas for appearances. Despite popular rumor, Love was not the namesake of Kermit the Frog; the character was created and named in 1955, before Henson met Love in the 1960s. Though he also worked on ''
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 ...
'' and '' The Muppet Movie'', ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'' was Love's domain, along with
Caroly Wilcox Carolyn Wilcox (May 16, 1931 – January 9, 2021), known as Caroly Wilcox, was an American theatre professional, best known for her work with the Muppets, on television programs including ''Sesame Street,'' '' The Muppet Show'', and ''Fraggle Ro ...
, as one of the key supervisors. He portrayed Willy, the hot dog vendor, on ''Sesame Street''. He puppeteered on the special '' Julie on Sesame Street''. For the feature film '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird'', he served as special Muppet consultant, and appeared in many background scenes as Willy. He co-designed many of the ''Sesame Street'' puppets for the early international productions. For the special '' The Great Santa Claus Switch'', he contributed to the giant Thig. In his memoir ''The Wit and Wisdom of Big Bird'', Caroll Spinney speaks affectionately of Love and his importance to the show, though noting an occasional cantankerous side.


Beyond ''Sesame Street''

In addition to his work on ''Sesame Street'', Love remained busy as freelancer, creating and building puppets for the non-Henson puppet series '' The Great Space Coaster''. One of his specials was watched by a young Kevin Clash, whose parents contacted Love and told him about their son. Love worked as a mentor to Clash and introduced him to Jim Henson, and helped Clash get jobs on children's shows ''The Great Space Coaster'' and '' Captain Kangaroo''. After both shows were canceled, Clash moved on to ''Sesame Street''. Other works included building the Snuggle Bear puppet for the Snuggle fabric softener advertisements. Love appeared as
Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
on the cover of '' New York'' magazine in December 1982, 1984, and 1985. Going into semi-retirement in the 1990s, Love remained active, building many full-body puppets for the Joffrey Ballet's ''
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
'' performances, such as designing the mice and the -tall Mother Ginger puppet, an association that continued to 2004. In 1993, he directed the ''Whirligig'' pilot for PBS at The Studios at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas. In 2001, he designed Aza, the bird-like mascot for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.


Personal life and death

Although he was American, Love often spoke with an English, and sometimes French, accent. He resided in Stanfordville, New York. Love died on June 21, 2008, of congestive
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
and
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was survived by Christopher Lyall, his partner of 50 years.


References


External links


Rick Lyon's Photos from Love's 85th Birthday Party

Dance Magazine Profile
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profile at Theater Development Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Kermit 1916 births 2008 deaths Male actors from New Jersey American costume designers American puppeteers Ballet designers American gay artists American gay actors LGBTQ puppeteers LGBTQ people from New Jersey Muppet designers Puppet designers People from Spring Lake, New Jersey People from Stanford, New York Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) Actors from Monmouth County, New Jersey