Frank Oz (Oznowicz) ’62
Frank Oz, born Richard Frank Oznowicz, is a film director, actor, and puppeteer best known for creating and performing the roles of Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear with Jim Henson on The Muppet Show, as well as creating and performing Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover on Sesame Street. Born in England to parents who were puppeteers and part of the Dutch resistance, Oz moved with his family to Oakland at the age of 5.
After graduating Tech and attending Oakland City College, he was an apprentice puppeteer at Children’s Fairyland. Eventually he began collaborating with Henson, a thirty year partnership that resulted in more than 75 productions. In addition to acting credits in movies from The Blues Brothers to An American Werewolf in London, Oz also performed the voice and puppet work for the character of Yoda in the Star Wars series. He has directed movies such as Little Shop of Horrors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Frank has won four Emmy awards.