Noel MacNeal

Noel MacNeal (born September 15, 1961), sometimes credited as Noel McNeal or Edward Noel MacNeal, is an American puppeteer, actor, director and writer of children's television who has performed since the early 1980s. He was the voice and puppeteer of Bear on Bear in the Big Blue House. He also starred as Kako on Oobi, Leon MacNeal on The Puzzle Place and as Magellan on Eureeka's Castle. He is also the resident puppeteer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, portraying puppet characters such as "Mr. Nutterbutter".

Noel MacNeal
MacNeal at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023
Born (1961-09-15) September 15, 1961
Harlem, New York, U.S.
Occupations
  • Puppeteer
  • director
  • writer
  • actor
Years active1983–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1999)​
Children1

Career

Noel portrays the environmentally friendly character ZoZo a mascot for safer streets, green transportation, and useful public spaces.[1] This Jim Henson designed and created walk around puppet is used by Livable Streets Education to talk about these issues with young children and families.[2]

While Bear is his most famous character, MacNeal has also performed Mrs. (Mommy) Snuffleupagus and various Snuffleupagus relatives on Sesame Street, Magellan, a childlike dragon, on the ACE Award-winning series Eureeka's Castle on Nick Jr, Leon MacNeal in The Puzzle Place, Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Madame Chairbird in the Sesame Street film Follow That Bird. His repertoire of characters also includes Kako on the Nick Jr. Channel series Oobi, Blue on Nick Jr.'s Blue's Room, Rabbit for The Disney Channel's Emmy Award-winning series The Book of Pooh, Lionel on PBS's Between the Lions, and Knock-Knock on The Great Space Coaster. In addition, he’s performed with and/or for Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Emma Thompson, Wayne Brady, Dave Chappelle, Donny and Marie Osmond, Tom Bergeron, Regis and Kelly, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric.

Noel is also a television writer. His scripts have been featured on PBS Kids Sprout's The Good Night Show, The Disney Channel's Bear in the Big Blue House, PBS's The Puzzle Place, The Magic School Bus and Cyberchase, TLC's Salty's Lighthouse (in which he re-wrote an original episode of the British children's TV series Tugs for its own segments) and Nickelodeon's Eureeka's Castle and Gullah Gullah Island. He is also a script and television directorial adviser and consultant for the international versions of Sesame Street as well having directed episodes of Bear in the Big Blue House and PBS Kids Sprout's The Good Night Show.

In 2003, Noel received a Daytime Emmy Nomination as "Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series". Noel is now the resident puppeteer for the HBO series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. MacNeal was noted for his portrayal of Mr. Nutterbutter,[3] and operated a seagull puppet in another episode. He also portrayed Totes McGoats, a goat-human hybrid mascot which promotes recycling, in the episode on plastics.[4]

Personal life

MacNeal was born to two African-American parents, but his father was white-passing (previously, it had been reported that his father was fully white).

On November 6, 1999, he married author Susan Elia at Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary.[5] In 2005, their son Matthew was born.[6]

Filmography

Puppeteer

Writer

Director

References
  1. Where is the Zozo? Accessed September 24, 2010
  2. Streets Education
  3. Court Finds John Oliver Has the Right to Hire a Giant Squirrel Named “Mr. Nutterbutter” to Insult Coal Barons
  4. "Przegląd tygodnia: Wieczór z Johnem Oliverem (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) - sezon 8, odcinek 7 - HBO GO". hbogo.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  5. Brady, Lois Smith. "LOIS SMITH BRADY" The New York Times; November 14, 1999
  6. "Muppet Central News - Muppeteer Noel MacNeal writes puppet making book for young and old".
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