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Ryan Dillon
Ryan Dillon
Born	May 25, 1988 (age 36); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Puppeteer
Years active	2005–present
Employer	The Jim Henson Company
Known for	The voice of Elmo

Ryan Dillon (born May 25, 1988) is an American puppeteer who has worked as an ensemble muppeteer for the Jim Henson Company since 2005.^[1] He also played Cooper and Paul Ball for the interactive series Sesame Street TV for Xbox Kinect, and appeared on all four seasons of the new CBeebies and co-productions of Sesame Street, The Furchester Hotel, and The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo as Elmo.^[2] In March 2017, Dillon was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming.^[3]^[4]

Background and career

Dillon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a young puppeteer, Dillon came to the attention of Sesame Street producers when he went to an audition as a high school student.^{[citation needed]} He took time off from school during his senior year to participate in the shooting for season 37 in 2005. In 2013, he succeeded Kevin Clash as the performer for Elmo in new productions and appearances following his resignation from Sesame Street in November 2012. He also replaced the late Richard Hunt as Don Music in Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary tribute.^{[citation needed]}

Dillon has taught classes in television puppetry at Pennsylvania State University, and various schools and centres in the United States.^[5] In addition to playing Elmo, Dillon has appeared on Kraft MilkBite commercials, "Healthy Teeth, Healthy Me," "Little Children, Big Challenges," "Little Discoverers: Big Fun With Science, Math and More," Julie's Greenroom, The Muppets Take the Bowl, The Muppets Take the O2, the Nickelodeon webseries "Ask Sylvia" as the title character, and John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean (2010).^{[citation needed]}

Filmography


Years	Title	Role	Notes
2013–present	Sesame Street	Elmo
2014–2017	The Furchester Hotel	Elmo, Guinea Pig (ep. 12), Mail Bird (ep. 68), Christmas Elf on Phone (ep. 68), Mr. Peckwood (ep. 74), Cat Bride (ep. 96)
2016	The Toycracker: A Mini-Musical Spectacular	Elmo	TV short; uncredited
2020	Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration	Don Music, Elmo, Lefty the Salesman, Roosevelt Franklin (puppetry only)
2020–2021	The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo	Elmo
2022–present	Mecha Builders	Mecha Elmo

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Refs
2023	Children's and Family Emmy Awards	Outstanding Puppeteer Performance	Sesame Street	Won	^[6]

References

^ Ng, Gwendolyn (5 October 2017). "Meet Ryan Dillon, the new man behind Sesame Street puppet Elmo". Star2.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ "Ryan Dillon". Puppeteer Bios. Sesame Street. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^ "Ryan and Elmo Red Carpet Interview". DailyMotion. May 7, 2016. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 22, 2017). "Daytime Emmy Nominations: 'Young and the Restless' Tops List; THR Scores Nom". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^ "Ryan Dillon Resume". DillyPuppets.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
^ Coates, Tyler (November 2, 2023). "Children's & Family Emmy Awards: Disney Dominates Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

External links

Ryan Dillon at IMDb

Preceded by Kevin Clash	Elmo performer 2013–Present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Richard Hunt	Don Music performer 2019–Present	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Frank Oz	Lefty the Salesman performer 2019–Present	Succeeded by None