Steve Whitmire was born on September 24, 1959 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA as Steven Lawrence Whitmire. He is an actor, known for Fraggle Rock (1983), The Muppets (2011) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). He has been married to Melissa Whitmire since June 1978.

Spouse (1) Melissa Whitmire (June 1978 - present)

Trivia (5) 1. Performed beloved Muppets Kermit the Frog from 1990, following Jim Henson's passing, through October 2016, when Whitmire was let go from his role with the Muppets, as confirmed by Disney. 2. Was nicknamed Kermit in his youth because he aspired to become a puppeteer and even performed with a Kermit which he made. His high school yearbook even has the name "Kermit" on the front cover. 3. Shares the same birthday (September 24) as original Kermit the Frog Jim Henson. 4. He and Dave Goelz are the only Muppeteers to have been featured in all 8 theatrical Muppet movies (The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014)). Goelz and Whitmire also contributed to the two theatrical Sesame Street movies (Follow That Bird (1985) and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)) and the two fantasy Henson-company theatrical productions (The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986)). 5. Once received a plaque from Brian Henson in recognition of Steve performing Kermit for three and a half hours non-stop, during a public appearance.

Personal Quotes (2) 1. [on taking over the role of Kermit from Jim Henson] That was really, really scary as you could imagine. I had known Jim for thirteen or fourteen years at that point and I had worked with him on everything he had done with this group of Muppets. Not Sesame Street but everything else. We worked very close together. It was super intimidating. It was a great honor to be asked and I was just scared to death. So, Brian and the family made the decision, sent me one of the puppets. I took it out of the box. I'd had the puppet on before. I'd never performed it but had had it on my hand just going around the shop. I put him on and held him up in front of a mirror. I knew how to make the puppet talk because I'd been doing this for a long time and I fiddled with some of those expressions that Jim would do with Kermit. Then I opened my mouth to say something and nothing came out. There was no way that I could find the voice. The puppet just sort of looked at me like, "come on. You can do it". I took it off and put it in a closet and left it there for a month. I couldn't touch it. 2. People always ask us about being the voices of the Muppets, and I know what they mean, but supplying the voice is just one small element of what it is we do. In essence, we are actors just like any other actor. We portray a role, and it's a full performance, not just a voice. The established Muppet Performers literally are the characters they bring to life.

Steven Lawrence "Steve" Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer who has worked on The Muppets and Sesame Street. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire inherited the roles of Kermit the Frog and Ernie, after Jim Henson's death in 1990; he performed the characters until 2016 and 2014, respectively. As part of the Muppet cast, he has appeared in multiple feature films and television series, performing a variety of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock and during such occupations has worked for the Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and the Muppets Studio.

Personal life Whitmire has been married to his wife Melissa Whitmire since June 1978. Together, they live in Atlanta, Georgia.