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Fran Brill

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Puppeteer

The Resume

    (September 30, 1946- )
    Born in Chester, Pennsylvania
    Operates Zoe and Prarie Dawn on Sesame Street
    Appeared in the films 'Being There' (1979), 'Old Enough' (1984), 'Midnight Run' (1988) and 'What About Bob?' (1991)

Why she might be annoying:

    She has done hundreds of commercials, both on-screen and voice-overs.
    When she responded to an ad from Muppets, Inc., for performers, she thought it was for voice acting only (1970).
    At the time, she had no experience in puppetry.
    Her character Zoe is basically a female Elmo.
    When she was presented with potential designs for Zoe, 'I picked the one that had a face like Carol Channing.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was twice nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her acting off-Broadway.
    After a two-week puppetry workshop with Jim Henson and Frank Oz, she was hired for Sesame Street.
    She was the first female puppeteer hired by Jim Henson (not counting Henson's wife, Jane).
    The puppet Zoe was originally going to be named 'Franny' after her, but she suggested the new name, inspired by J.D. Salinger's book 'Franny and Zooey.'
    She said, 'I may not be a major motion picture star, but that's OK. I've done all right.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 14 Votes: 21.43% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying