Kevin Clash on the set of The Happytime Murders.
Kevin Jeffrey Clash (b. September 17, 1960) is an accomplished puppeteer whose characters include Elmo, Clifford, and Hoots the Owl. He served as Sesame Street Muppet Captain and co-executive producer for several years and was promoted to "senior creative advisor" at Sesame Workshop in May 2007.
Reflecting on his decades as a puppeteer, Clash released an autobiography titled My Life as a Furry Red Monster in the fall of 2006. The 2011 documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey chronicles Clash's life as a puppeteer.
Clash resigned from his role on Sesame Street in November 2012 following allegations of improper sexual conduct. He has since continued to puppeteer on various Jim Henson Company projects.
Clash has since relocated to the Los Angeles area, continuing to work with The Jim Henson Company at their West Coast headquarters. He has performed in projects such as The Happytime Murders, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (puppeteering Aughra), and Earth to Ned. He also played Wembley Fraggle at the Puppets for Puppetry fundraiser event on September 24, 2016 and was one of the puppeteers to perform Uncle Traveling Matt (to Dave Goelz's voice) in Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock episodes 102-105 and 107-112.