Peter Linz (Ernie, Herry Monster)
Peter Linz has wanted to be a Muppet performer on Sesame Street since he was a child growing up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Peter Linz has wanted to be a Muppet performer on Sesame Street since he was a child growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. His dream came true two years out of college when was hired as a puppeteer for Sesame Street.
In addition to performing various chickens, penguins, monsters, and a multitude of other characters, Linz gives life to Herry Monster and Ernie. Linz is also one of the six core Disney Muppet Performers. He performs Lips the trumpet player in the new Disney+ series, The Muppets Mayhem. Linz originated the new Muppet, Walter who appeared opposite Jason Segal and Amy Adams in the widely-acclaimed Disney feature films The Muppets (in which he performed the Oscar-winning song, “Man or Muppet”) and Muppets Most Wanted. He also performs the characters Statler, (one of the old men in the balcony), Link Hogthrob, Kermit’s nephew Robin, and Joe the Legal Weasel. Linz’s other film credits include Men in Black, Muppets From Space, Pet Sematary 2, and the 2005 remake of The Producers. In addition to his 32 seasons on Sesame Street, Linz’s other television credits include 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bear in the Big Blue House, Lomax:The Hound of Music, Blue’s Room, The Book of Pooh, Between the Lions, It’s A Big Big World, Puzzle Place, Word World, and the ABC primetime sitcom, The Muppets, plus multiple appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Good Morning America, among others. He is an original Broadway cast member of the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q. Linz has also led auditions and created workshops in television and film puppetry for international co-productions of Sesame Street in Germany, Mexico, China, and Jordan, and independently in the United States and New Zealand.
