Prairie Dawn

Baby Prairie Dawn and her mom are two of the main characters in Sesame Beginnings. Despite regular appearances throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Prairie's role on the show had greatly diminished by Season 39, and she appeared in very little new material outside of a few live appearances.

Prairie Dawn Media

• 

  Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets (seen here at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards 8 months before his death), was initially reluctant to work on Sesame Street, but joined due to social concerns of the time.

• 

  Frank Oz, who performed many Muppets throughout his career, from the debut of Sesame Street to most Henson productions

• 

  Caroll Spinney performed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from the show's debut in 1969 until his retirement in 2018

• 

  Steve Whitmire, who took over many of Jim Henson's characters after Henson's death in 1990, including Ernie and Kermit the Frog

• 

  Kevin Clash, with Elmo, his most famous puppet, whom he performed from 1985 to 2012

• 

  Eric Jacobson (2015), pictured here performing Grover

• 

  David Rudman (2015), who performs Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, and the Two-Headed Monster

• 

  Jennifer Barnhart, who performed Gladys the Cow and Mama Bear, and also currently performs Zoe

• 

  Matt Robinson, who in addition to performing the voice of the character Roosevelt Franklin, played Gordon on Sesame Street