Steven Lawrence "Steve" Whitmire (September 24, 1959, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) 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.
He worked with puppets after graduating high school, and eventually got a job working on The Muppet Show in 1978. Since then, Whitmire has performed in almost every major Henson company project, including non-Muppet fare such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Dinosaurs.
Whitmire was formerly the second performer of two signature Muppets—Kermit the Frog and Ernie—after the death of their creator and original performer Jim Henson in 1990. Whitmire was personally asked by Brian Henson and Jane Henson to be Kermit's performer a few weeks after Jim Henson's death. Heather Henson arranged for a Kermit puppet to be sent to Whitmire's residence; however, Whitmire hid the puppet away for weeks before deciding on taking on the role. Following the death of Richard Hunt and the retirement of Jerry Nelson, Whitmire took over the roles of Beaker and Statler, respectively. In 2014, Whitmire left the role of Ernie so he could continue focusing on Kermit and other projects by the Muppets Studio. Billy Barkhurst took over the role of Ernie. The character is currently performed by Peter Linz as of 2017.
Muppet characters original to Whitmire include Rizzo the Rat, Lips (the trumpet player from Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem), Foo-Foo (Miss Piggy's dog), Fraggle Rock's Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket the Dog, and Bean Bunny, a character that originated in The Tale of the Bunny Picnic (1986).
Whitmire voiced Link Hogthrob in the Muppet RaceMania and Muppet Party Cruise video games. He also performed Link for the 2011 film, The Muppets. This was the first speaking appearance of the character since the death of Jim Henson, the original performer of the character. Link appears in several scenes in the background and gets a moment in the spotlight as part of a barbershop quartet, singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit". He also performed him in Muppets Most Wanted. In 2008, Whitmire has also been the new performer of another of Jim Henson's roles, The Muppet Newsman.
