David Rudman

Born in 1963, David Rudman was raised in Chicago and attended the University of Connecticut. Soon after graduation he began as an intern at the Jim Henson Workshop, collaborating with the puppeteers and voice actors who made "The Muppet Show" (Syndicated 1976-1981) and "Sesame Street" (PBS, 1970-), among others. Rudman stayed within the Henson machine for over 30 years, putting his fingerprints on nearly every production in which the company took part. For Henson, he played Cookie Monster, Grover, and Bert. Rudman originated the character of Baby Bear and also played a number of supporting characters on "Sesame Street," "The Muppets" (ABC 2015-16), and in a number of projects featuring the popular character Elmo. "Aliens in the Family" (ABC, 1996) was still produced by Henson, but was a change of pace. The show was a prime time show mixing live action with The Henson Company puppeteers controlling the muppet-style aliens who had come to share our planet. In 2005, Rudman stepped completely out of the Henson world for a bit when he co-created the show "Jack's Big Music Show" (Noggin, 2005-08). Although she show did use puppets that were similar to Henson's muppets, the show was a stand alone, both creatively and from the business side. The show enjoyed great success, and although Rudman returned to the Henson fold, he continued to create outside projects as well. A second independent project, again featuring muppet-like puppets, was "Bunnytown" (Disney Jr, 2007) featuring, not surprisingly, a town populated by bunnies.