[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frank_oz_5084.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Frank Oz with [[Franchise/TheMuppets Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy]] in 1977. (Frank's the one in the middle.)]]

Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz; May 25, 1944) is an American film director, actor, voice actor and former puppeteer born in Hereford, England. Next to Creator/JimHenson, Oz is considered one of the greatest puppeteers in modern history, and was instrumental in the development of Henson's [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppets]], especially when it came to their comedic style.

After moving to America with his family as a child, he grew up surrounded by puppetry. His parents were both puppeteers (his father Mike Oznowicz even served a term as the president of Puppeteers of America), and he performed in puppet shows as a teen at the Children's Fairyland amusement park in UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}}. After befriending Jim Henson he became one of the original Creator/MuppetPerformers in 1963 and is still technically involved with the organization (though he retired from regular performing in 2001).

He is most famous for his puppetry and voice work in ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' and ''Series/SesameStreet'', and as [[Characters/StarWarsYoda Yoda]] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise. He has also had success as a film director.

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!!His works

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[[folder: Live-Action Films ]]

* He played Yoda in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films, puppeteering him in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' and ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' [[note]]it was replaced by a CGI Yoda in later home video releases[[/note]] and voicing him in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. He also had a vocal cameo in ''Film/TheForceAwakens''. He reprised the role in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', in which Yoda is a puppet again, and had another voice cameo in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.
* He's had small roles in a bunch of Creator/JohnLandis movies. In ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'', he's the prison guard in charge of the prisoner's personal effects; in ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'' he plays a prison warden who is presumably the same character. He's a representative from the US Embassy in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'', a corrupt cop in ''Film/TradingPlaces'', a test monitor in ''Film/SpiesLikeUs'', and a pathologist in ''Film/InnocentBlood''. Landis in turn plays a theatrical producer in ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan''.
* He's the lawyer of a BigScrewedUpFamily fighting over their patriarch's heritage in Creator/RianJohnson's ''Film/KnivesOut''.
* He co-directed ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' along with Creator/JimHenson and performed two characters, Aughra and the Chamberlain (he didn't voice either of them, however).
* He performed the Wiseman in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', although again, he didn't voice him.
* Films he directed, in chronological order:
** ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'' (1984)
** ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' (1986)
** ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'' (1988)
** ''Film/WhatAboutBob'' (1991)
** ''Film/{{Housesitter}}'' (1992)
** ''Film/TheIndianInTheCupboard'' (1995)
** ''Film/InAndOut'' (1997)
** ''Film/{{Bowfinger}}'' (1999)
** ''Film/TheScore'' (2001)
** The 2004 adaptation of ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''
** ''Film/DeathAtAFuneral'' (2007)
** ''Muppet Guys Talking: Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched'' (2017)

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[[folder: Theatre ]]

* ''In and Of Itself'', a one-man show by performance artist Derek [=DelGaudio=].

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[[folder: TV Shows ]]

* He performed Grover, Bert, Cookie Monster and many other characters on ''Series/SesameStreet'' from 1969 until 2001, when he stopped being a full-time performer so he could focus on his directing career. Bert and Grover are now performed by Eric Jacobson, and Cookie Monster is performed by David Rudman. Until about 2012, he would return to perform them in some miscellaneous sketches.
* He originated the roles of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam the Eagle and Marvin Suggs on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', and performed them in numerous other Muppet productions until 2000, when he left to focus on his career as a director. His characters are now played by Eric Jacobson.
* He reprised his role as Yoda in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''. He also did Yoda's voice for ''Series/StarWarsJediTempleChallenge''.

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[[folder: Animated Films ]]

* He voiced Fungus in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' and Subconscious Guard Dave in ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' and ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut2''.
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!!Frank Oz and his works provide examples of:
* CrossDressingVoices: As Miss Piggy, plus some one-off female voices on ''Sesame Street''.
* LargeHam: He tends to ham up the performance of many of his Muppet characters, and not just Miss Piggy, but Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam the Eagle, Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster all have had ''many'' hammy moments.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: Oz usually played goofy, silly-looking creatures. Yoda is a goofy, silly-looking character who is actually very wise and powerful beneath his facade. By the prequels, Yoda's veneer of goofiness is gone and it reaches PlayingAgainstType as Yoda is almost entirely serious.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Arguably, with Jim Henson. Whether it was as Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Miss Piggy, or Kermit and Fozzie, Henson and Oz provided the Muppet legacy with some of their all-time funniest moments.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Frank Oz was at one point planning to direct an adaptation of the musical Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}, but this never happened.
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-->''"The Force is strong."''
-->''"Wocka Wocka!"''
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