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Rowlf the Dog puppet

National Museum of American History
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Object Details

performer
Henson, Jim
referenced
IBM
Henson, Jim
builder
Sahlin, Don
Description (Brief)

This Rowlf puppet is one of the earliest made to perform this Muppet character, a genial, cool, and musically gifted dog. Rowlf became the first nationally-known Muppet star when he joined Jimmy Dean as a wisecracking sidekick on the popular country singer's comedy and variety show, The Jimmy Dean Show, from 1963-1966. Since then, Rowlf has been a featured member of the cast of The Muppet Show, Muppet movies, and other Muppet productions.

Rowlf was first designed by Jim Henson and built by Don Sahlin for Purina Dog Chow commercials in the early 1960s. Rowlf was also used as a 'spokesdog' in films made for IBM in the 1960s. Henson made a meeting film discussing the IBM Model D called "Rowlf 100% Club - IBM Confidential" in 1967.

This Rowlf is a live-hand puppet made of brown synthetic fur with a black plastic nose. In a live-hand puppet like Rowlf one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing.

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
1960s
ID Number
2013.0101.04
accession number
2013.0101
catalog number
2013.0101.04
Object Name
puppet
Physical Description
synthetic fibers (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
foam (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 24 in x 19 in; 60.96 cm x 48.26 cm
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Jim Henson
National Museum of American History
subject
Television
Puppetry
Muppet Show
Record ID
nmah_1444761
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-9b0d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • The Puppets and Muppets of Jim Henson

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