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Count von Count Puppet

National Museum of American History

Object Details

performer
Nelson, Jerry
Henson, Jim
builder
Wilcox, Caroly
Description (Brief)

Count von Count is a hand-rod puppet originally performed by Jerry Nelson and currently performed by Matt Vogel. The Count began as a parody of Bela Lugosi’s film portrayal of the vampire Count Dracula. He first appeared in 1972 on Season 4 of Sesame Street and continues today counting anything and everything in his friendly, vampire-like manner. In a hand-rod puppet, like Count von Count, the performer’s dominant hand goes into the puppet’s head and operates the mouth and sometimes other facial features. The less dominant hand controls the arm rods, which are thin rods connected to the puppet’s hands.

This specific Count von Count puppet was built for the 25th Anniversary Sesame Street exhibit in Japan in 1994. The puppet was built using the same patterns and building process for performance puppets that are used on Sesame Street, but it was built for the exhibit and never actually used on Sesame Street.

Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of the Family of Jim Henson: Lisa Henson, Cheryl Henson, Brian Henson, John Henson and Heather Henson
1994
ID Number
2013.0101.08
accession number
2013.0101
catalog number
2013.0101.08
Object Name
puppet
Physical Description
foam (overall material)
fabric (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 24 in x 17 in x 28 1/2 in; 60.96 cm x 43.18 cm x 72.39 cm
overall w/ attached base: 24 in x 33 in x 33 in; 60.96 cm x 83.82 cm x 83.82 cm
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Jim Henson
National Museum of American History
Subject
Sesame Street
Puppetry
Television broadcasts
Television
Children's television programs
Record ID
nmah_1444767
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-e533-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • The Puppets and Muppets of Jim Henson

Puppet, The Count from Sesame Street
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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