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Bert (Sesame Street)

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Bert
Sesame Street character
First appearanceSesame Street Test Pilot 1 (July 21, 1969)
Performed byFrank Oz (1969–2006)
Eric Jacobson (1999–present)
BirthdayJuly 26[1]
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman Muppet[2]
GenderMale
Ernie (left), with his rubber duckie, and Bert (right) on Sesame Street in 1977.

Bert is a golden yellow Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show Sesame Street. Bert was originally performed by Frank Oz.

Since 1999, Muppeteer Eric Jacobson has been phased in as Bert's primary performer. Bert has also made cameo appearances within The Muppets franchise, including The Muppet Show, its second pilot episode The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, The Muppet Movie, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, in addition to an appearance with Ernie on The Flip Wilson Show on September 14, 1972, on which he sang "Clink, Clank", a song about noises.[3] Jacobson joined Sesame Street in 1994.

Characteristics

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Physically, Bert represents a human, with yellow skin and a vertically elongated head, with a tuft of black hair at the top. Bert has a noted unibrow.[4] Bert typically wears a shirt with vertical stripes, most commonly with red, blue and green stripes. He also sports green pants and blue & white saddle, pigeon shoes.

Bert's age has never been defined, but performer on Sesame Street Live, Taylor Morgan, has said that "I just kind of try to think like a six year old or a seven year old, because that's how old Bert is."[5] Bert's twin brother Bart is depicted as a traveling salesman who has a son named Brad. Bert and his roommate Ernie form a comic duo that is one of the program's centerpieces, with Bert acting as the world weary foil, to Ernie's naive troublemaking.

Discography

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As the duo often sing in their skits, several albums were released, containing studio recorded versions of their songs. Bert's best known song is "Doin' the Pigeon". He and Ernie both had their own video, The Best of Ernie and Bert, and their own album, Bert and Ernie's Greatest Hits. Only Ernie, however, has hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with his song "Rubber Duckie", in September 1970.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Pigeons? Bottle caps? Paper Clips? Oatmeal? What would you give @bertsesame for his birthday?! #HappyBirthdayBert". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  2. ^ Sesame Workshop. "Muppet Bios: Bert". Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "Sesame Street on The Flip Wilson Show – Ernie and Bert: Clink, Clank". 17 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2022 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Bert's unibrow, orange Oscar and more 'Sesame Street' fun facts". TODAY.com. November 10, 2014.
  5. ^ "Macon news, sports, jobs, homes, cars". 11 March 2007. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2022.