Biography
Born in Hereford, England, Frank Oz (born Frank Oznowicz) graduated from California's Oakland City College during 1962 and joined the humans behind
Jim Henson's fledgling Muppet group as a puppeteer the following year. He was part of the first-season cast of
Saturday Night Live as the Mighty Favag and appeared in
The Blues Brothers with
John Belushi and
Dan Aykroyd. After
The Muppet Show went on the air in 1976, Oz became vice president of the Henson organization, and was responsible for the portrayals of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal, among other characters, earning three Emmy Awards for his work on the show. He later served as a producer for
The Great Muppet Caper (1980), directed by Henson, with whom he co-directed
The Dark Crystal a year later. He later directed
The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. Two years later, with Henson in the director's chair, Oz was one of the voices in
Labyrinth. Moving outside of Henson's orbit, Oz directed the screen version of the musical
Little Shop of Horrors (1986),
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and the
Kevin Kline vehicle In & Out (1997). He also served as the voice of Yoda in five
Star Wars movies:
The Empire Strikes Back,
Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide