When did Richard Hunt start having trouble performing Sweetums?

[minor muppetz]

I know that Richard Hunt eventually stopped performing Sweetums, sticking to just the voice, but does anybody know when he stopped performing from inside the suit?

It seems like Sweetums wasn't used much during the 1980s. I only know of two Muppet Show episodes from the last season that Sweetums appeared in (the ones with Marty Feldman and Glenda Jackson). Sweetums also made a cameo at the beginning of The Great Muppet Caper, he appeared in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, where he was just sitting and I suppose that would be easier to perform him (then again, since the sets are raised from the ground and the puppets are held up, it's possible that the full-body characters were actually standing instead of sitting as it looked like), and he made an appearance on The Jim Henson Hour. He wasn't in The Muppets Go To The Movies, The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show, John Denver and the Muppets: Rocky Mountain Holiday, The Muppets Take Manhattan or A Muppet Family Christmas at all.

I have read at Muppet Wiki that there is an interview with Jim Henson from 1987 where he mentioned that John Henson was performing Sweetums at the time. I know that Richard Hunt trained John Henson to perform Sweetums, but I don't know when he started. I believe that other people were also inside Sweetums before Richard Hunt died. I've read somewhere that Rob Mills performed Sweetums on The Jim Henson Hour (I don't know if Richard Hunt performed the voice or if this information is true), and David Rudman performed Sweetums on The Cosby Show. It's also interesting that Richard Hunt trained a performer to take over as Sweetums. Although he is one of the most famous Muppet monsters, he isn't as major as Big Bird or The Gorgs, and there are a lot of Muppet productions that he didn't appear in.

 

[CensoredAlso]

That's interesting, I didn't know John Henson was performing Sweetums even in 1987. Hmm...wish I knew more about this. I'll check around.

 

[minor muppetz]

That's interesting, I didn't know John Henson was performing Sweetums even in 1987. Hmm...wish I knew more about this. I'll check around.

I don't know when he started performing. I think I've heard about Sweetums making a public appearance at the opening of The Muppet Store in the early 1980s (I can't remember if I actually read this or if I'm just thinking it). Maybe he performed Sweetums there.

I wonder if Richard Hunt performed Sweetums in the introduction for the monster clips in the 30th anniversary special. He is sitting there, which might make it easier for Richard Hunt to perform him, but as I said earlier, it's possible that all of the full-body characters were actually standing and, with the sets raised and so many regular-sized Mupepts there, it could have just looked like they were sitting.