Mike Quinn (puppeteer)

Mike Quinn (born 1964) is an English actor, animator, and puppeteer. He is also known as Mike Quinby, Michael E. Quinn, and Michael Quinn.

Early life and career

Quinn, who hails from London, began puppeteering at age eight, with a magic act for his family.

In 1977, Quinn regularly visited the set of The Muppet Show with his homemade puppets, eventually meeting Jim Henson. Through his visits, he learned more about puppeteering and received encouragement from Jim Henson and his co-workers.

After leaving school in 1980, Quinn joined The Jim Henson Company and worked on the 1981 film The Great Muppet Caper puppeteering in crowd scenes and acting as a double for various main Muppet characters. Quinn later designed and built the Podlings for The Dark Crystal, where he also performed the Skeksis Slave Master SkekNa (who was voiced by David Buck).

During the filming of Return of the Jedi, Quinn (and Kathryn Mullen) were assistant puppeteers to Frank Oz in his performance of Yoda . He also performed the role of Nien Nunb in Return Of the Jedi. Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Quinn joined forces with fellow puppeter David Barclay, creating Ultimate Animates, a production company specializing in new building and performing techniques for internal and external puppet productions.

Quinn was present at Jim Henson's memorial and joined other puppeteers in a performance of "Just One Person", operating one of the Penguins from The Muppet Show.

Quinn joined George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic as an animator, first working on Jurassic Park III and then Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

He reprised his role as Nien Nunb in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,[1] a role that he reprised again in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.[2]

Personal life

From 1987 to 2004, Mike Quinn was engaged to fellow puppeteer Karen Prell. From 2005 to present, married to Jerri Quinn. He is also a relative of Mia Farrow since Mike's grandmother was the first cousin of Mia Farrow's mother Maureen O'Sullivan.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1981The Great Muppet CaperAdditional Muppets
1982The Dark CrystalSkekNaPerformer
1983Return of the JediNien Nunb and various rolesYoda (assistant performer)
1986 LabyrinthGoblinspuppeteer
The Tale of the Bunny PicnicBulbous, Mayor BunnyparteVoice
1992The Muppet Christmas CarolUndertakerVoice, Performer of Miss Piggy and Fonzie Bear
1996Muppet Treasure IslandAdditional Muppets
2005The Muppets' Wizard of OzAdditional MuppetsCredited as Michael Quinn
2011The MuppetsAdditional Muppets
2014Muppets Most WantedAdditional Muppets
2015Star Wars: The Force AwakensNien Nunb
2017Star Wars: The Last Jedi[3]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983–87Fraggle RockGobo Fraggle and various
1987Jim Henson's Mother Goose StoriesBrown GoslingCredited as Mike Quinby
1988The StorytellerDevilEpisode: "The Soldier and Death" puppeteer
1989The Ghost of Faffner HallRiff13 episodes
1994The Secret Life of ToysVarious
1994Jim Henson's Animal ShowChuck The Lion4 episodes
2005The Muppets' Wizard of OzMuppet Performer
2013Shake It UpParrotEpisode: "Ty It Up"
2013Good Luck CharlieAdditional Muppet PerformerEpisode: "Duncan Dream House"
2013GleePuppeteerEpisode: "Puppet Master"
2015-16The MuppetsAdditional Muppet Performer12 episodes
2018KiddingSecret Chef and Puppeteer4 episodes

Event

YearTitleRoleNotes
2017The Muppets Take the BowlAdditional Muppet PerformerLive show at the Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 8–10

Crew

References

  1. ↑ Jason Ward (25 October 2015). "Star Wars Legend Mike Quinn returns as Nien Nunb in Star Wars: The Force Awakens!". makingstarwars.net. Making Star Wars. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. ↑ B. Alan Orange (5 February 2016). "Nien Nunb Will Return in 'Star Wars 8'". movieweb.com. MovieWeb. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Alan Orange (5 February 2016). "Nien Nunb Will Return in 'Star Wars 8'". movieweb.com. MovieWeb. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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