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Frank Oz

It is rare that two talented people share the same credit as co-directors of the same motion picture. But "The Dark Crystal" is no ordinary film; and the bonds of friendship and creativity that link Frank Oz (Co-director/Performer) and Jim Henson are as unusual as they are strong.

As one of Henson's original Muppet mentors, Oz has performed such characters as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal of The Muppet Show and Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover of Sesame Street.

As vice-president and creative consultant of Henson Associates, Oz has conceived, staged, and otherwise contributed to much of the company's film and television output.

As co-director of "The Dark Crystal" he is also one of its principle performers -- as Aughra, a sorceress with prophetic powers; and the Chamberlain of a reptilian dynasty, the Skeksis.

Set in a world of another time and another place, whose fantasy foundations have fallen prey to corruption at the hands of the evil Skeksis, the tale of myth, mystery, heroism, and adventure is Henson's conception. But it is the wizardry of Oz that helps bring the film's wistful, whimsical, surreal, and sinister characters to life.

The British-born puppeteer has been immersed in that art for as long as he can remember. It was his parents' hobby. By the time he was a twelve-year-old growing up in Oakland, California, Oz was performing professionally, with puppets and plays of his own creation.

While he continued putting on his shows all through high school, he looked upon writing as his first careet choice and enrolled at Oakland City College, with journalism as his major.

He kept performing, however, and at a west Coast puppetry convention his show was caught by Henson, who asked him to join forces and travel to New York for a six-month tryout with the Muppets two years later. Oz was only seventeen when he accepted. That was in 1963, and Oz has been there ever since.

His personal growth as an artist paralleled the rising popularity of the Muppets and helped propel the half-hour Muppet Show series to its preeminent position in television around the world.

When the Muppets made their first feature film, "The Muppet Movie," Oz's Miss Piggy reached folk-heroine status. Life featured her on the cover and devoted several pages to her spiffy wardrobe. Her fans organized an almost-serious attempt to get her an Academy Award Best Actress nomination -- which Miss Piggy privately felt was her due, regardless of eyelashes publicly a-flutter with mock humility. (Moi?!? But how thrilling!")

Her creator, meantime, was ready to reach out for other challenges. As an actor, Oz appeared in brief but telling roles in "The Blues Brothers" and "An American Werewolf In London."

Then, with Henson's encouragement, Oz accepted what was intended to be a minor role in "The Empire Strikes Back" -- that of Yoda, the Jedi sage. Once more an Oz-ling became a folk hero, as the wrinkled, lovable space creature captivated audiences and made the covers of Time, People, and other major publications.

Although Oz emphasizes that he was not the only performer involved in the manipulation of the extremely complex figure, it was his acting that created Yoda's character and personality. (The technology invented to realize Yoda, meanwhile, was the helpful forerunner of the new techniques used in "The Dark Crystal.")

With those cinematic triumphs to his credit, Oz was ready to stretch once more, this time as a filmmaker. On the Muppets' second film, "The Great Muppet Caper," he served as co-producer, with David Lazer. This was followed by his current co-directing assignment on "The Dark Crystal."

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