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Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters included Elmo, Clifford, Benny Rabbit, and Hoots the Owl. Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, and began performing for local TV children's shows in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, as a teenager. In the early 1980s, he began working in ''Captain Kangaroo'', and began performing in ''Sesame Street'' in 1984. He was the fifth puppeteer to perform Elmo, the character he became the most famous for, and became an executive producer and director for the show. Clash worked in various productions for the Muppets and Jim Henson Productions and in other projects. He resigned from ''Sesame Street'' in late 2012, after allegations of sexual impropriety, which he denied and were later thrown out in court. Clash wrote an autobiography, ''My Life as a Furry Red Monster'', which was published in 2006, and also featured in the 2011 documentary ''Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey''. ==Early years== Kevin Clash was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 17, 1960, the third of four children born to George Clash, a flash welder and handyman, and Gladys Clash, who ran a small daycare center in their two-bedroom, one-bath home in the Turner Station of Dundalk, Maryland.〔Clash, pp. 10–11〕 Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, inspired by children's shows like ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' and ''Sesame Street''. He made his first puppet, a version of Mickey Mouse, at the age of 10.〔Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 3:41〕 When he was twelve, he created a monkey puppet out of the lining of his father's coat.〔Clash, pp. 80–81〕 His first performances were for his mother's daycare children.〔Marks, event occurs at 9:11〕 By the time he was a teenager, he had built almost 90 puppets, which he based upon commercials, popular music, and his friends.〔Herman (Part 1), event occurs at 11:09〕〔Clash, p. 68〕 While still in high school, Clash performed at venues throughout Baltimore, including schools, churches, fundraisers, and community events.〔Clash, p. 3〕 While appearing at a neighborhood festival, Clash was discovered by Baltimore television personality Stu Kerr, who became Clash's first mentor and hired him to perform in the children's show ''Caboose'' at Channel 2. Clash also built puppets for the ''Romper Room'' franchise.〔Clash, p. 155〕〔Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 9:19〕〔Davis, p. 288〕 When he was 17, he contacted and met puppeteer Kermit Love, who became Clash's mentor, after seeing Love featured in an episode of the documentary ''Call It Macaroni''.〔Marks, event occurs at 17:55〕〔Clash, pp. 68–70〕 In 1979, on Love's recommendation, Clash appeared as Cookie Monster in the ''Sesame Street'' float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and met Jim Henson, who later became his boss, mentor, and friend.〔Marks, event occurs at 30:26〕〔Clash, pp. 71–75; p. 140〕 When he was nineteen, Clash became a puppeteer for ''Captain Kangaroo'', initially as a guest performer, in which he also made occasional on-camera appearances. The producers of ''Captain Kangaroo'' used some of Clash's puppet creations for the show.〔Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 3:59〕〔Clash, p. 158〕 In 1984, Clash had to turn down Henson's offer to work on his film ''The Dark Crystal'' because he was working on two TV shows at the same time, ''Captain Kangaroo'' and Love's syndicated program ''The Great Space Coaster'', in which he was producer for the first time.〔Davis, pp. 290–291〕〔Marks, event occurs at 37:43〕〔Herman (Part 2), event occurs at 11:39〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kevin Clash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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