Funny Boy

The Richard Hunt Biography

By: Jessica Max Stein

Narrated by: Will Tulin

Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography tells the life story of a gifted performer whose gleeful irreverence, sharp wit, and generous spirit inspired millions. Richard Hunt was one of the original main five performers in the Muppet troupe. He brought to life an impressive range of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and various Muppet movies, everyone from eager gofer Scooter to elderly heckler Statler, groovy girl Janice to freaked-out lab helper Beaker, even early versions of Miss Piggy and Elmo. Hunt also acted, directed, and mentored the next generation of performers. His accomplishments are all the more remarkable in that he crammed them all into only forty years.

Richard Hunt was just eighteen years old when he joined Jim Henson's company, where his edgy humor quickly helped launch the Muppets into international stardom. Hunt lived large, savoring life's delights, amassing a vivid, disparate community of friends. Even when the AIDS epidemic wrought its devastation, claiming the love of Hunt's life and threatening his own life, he showed an extraordinary sense of resilience, openness, and joy. Hunt's story exemplifies how to follow your passion, foster your talents, adapt to life's surprises, genuinely connect with everyone from glitzy celebrities to gruff cab drivers—and have a hell of a lot of fun along the way.

©2024 Jessica Max Stein (P)2024 Tantor

The ‘I Saw The TV Glow’ of biographies

Just exactly what I needed from a Muppet biography. Stein’s book covers specific sketches and characters that I remember from early childhood. She exhorts the reader through her subject Richard Hunt to seize life. We only have one.