“Hey, where is your hand?”
The man behind the legend as he works at what he does best. The fellow pictured with the glasses and the mustache is none other than Frank Oz. Oz, although not related to the wizard, has a magic in his own right, the ability to make objects come to life.
His career is a puppeteer and he is perhaps the most famous of all time. He not only controlled his marionettes, but also supplied them with their voices combining his skills as a ventriloquist with his skills as a voice actor. He was the one responsible for the impressive and life-like Yoda that was used in the fifth and sixth episodes and also returned to supply the voice of the computer generated version of his character in the prequel trilogy. Although this is probably his most famous work, his breakout role was as the puppeteer of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal on the original Muppet show.
Jim Henson took interest in Oz’s talent and when contracted to build Yoda, suggested Oz should be the one to control it. In addition to his puppeteering, he also directed a great number of movies, including the hit musical Little Shop of Horrors. He still finds time to voice his green friend in today’s Star Wars works, including in the rides at Disney World.
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