And he looks nary a year older than when he first entered showbiz!
Sat, 15 Oct 2005
World tour marks Kermit's birthday
Kermit the Frog began a globe-hopping tour to celebrate his 50th
showbiz birthday on Friday in this small west Texas town that
shares the beloved amphibian's name.
The town of about 5,700, a ranching and oil area about 375 miles
west of Dallas, rolled out the green carpet for the singing,
dancing Muppet and former Sesame Street star, giving him the key to
the city, dubbing him grand marshal of the homecoming parade and
crowning him honorary homecoming king.
Kermit's 50-stop tour will cross four continents and last until the
end of 2006. Stops include the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower
and the Great Wall of China. He's even scheduled to run with the
bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
"I thought they said bullfrogs," Kermit said in a rare interview.
"I'm going to get the heck out of their way."
Kermit made his debut in a 1955 television comedy called Sam and
Friends, which aired locally in Washington, but he looked more
lizardlike then. Kermit was fashioned from an old coat belonging to
the mother of late Muppets creator Jim Henson and was named after
one of Henson's childhood friends.
Henson and his two-foot tall puppet joined Sesame Street in 1969.
The Muppet Show followed in 1976 and ended its run in 1982.
Henson gave Kermit a voice and a life for 35 years, until his death
in 1990. Since then, Steve Whitmire, who had worked with Henson for
about 13 years, has taken over his voice and movements.
Kermit offered insight into how he stays so youthful looking.
"I don't think it's a secret: Stay moist," he said, adding that an
exercise regimen that includes yoga also helps. "My favourite
position is the downward frog."
The town of Kermit was named for Kermit Roosevelt, the eldest son
of President Theodore Roosevelt. He had visited a ranch in northern
Winkler County to hunt a few months before the town was named.
Kermit, which incorporated in 1938, began as a supply centre for
the area's scattered ranches.
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