Richard Hunt

Coming from a showbiz family, Hunt was a fan of Henson's earliest Muppet performances; he cold-called Henson Associates looking for a job and nailed his audition. At just 20-years-old he was performing alongside Henson on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' and soon after joined 'Sesame Street" playing a variety of minor characters. With the premiere of 'The Muppet Show,' he developed the characters of Beaker, Statler, Janice and the full-bodied Sweetums, but his most memorable character was Scooter, the stage director.

Hunt stayed involved with the Muppets branching out into directing and casting on both 'Fraggle Rock' and direct-to-video specials. Additionally, his partnership with Jerry Nelson led to several tw-man sketches on Muppet specials, 'Sesame Street' and 'Fraggle Rock.' He could also be spotted as a taxi driver in a cameo appearance in 'The Great Muppet Caper.' Regretfully, Hunt passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1992. For a time period, the cast decided to retire Scooter and his other characters before slowly returning some of them to prominence. At the end of each season, the production of 'Sesame Street' bestows a cast-member with the Richard Hunt Spirit Award, which recognizes the talent who "best honors the generosity in spirit and dedicated work of Richard Hunt in their actions on set."

'The Muppet Show': Scooter, Statler, Janice, Sweetums, Beaker, Various Characters

'The Muppet Movie': Scooter, Statler, Janice, Sweetums, and Beaker

'The Great Muppet Caper': Scooter, Statler, Sweetums, Janice, and Beaker

'Fraggle Rock': Junior Gorg, Gunge, Various Fraggles and Doozers

'The Muppets Take Manhattan': Scooter, Janice and Statler