John Tartaglia is an American puppeteer, actor, singer and dancer, and can be considered one of the most original and flexible performers anywhere in the United States. Tartaglia graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania in 1996, at which time he had already worked for Sesame Street.

Indeed, his talent was such that he had become one of the youngest Sesame Street puppeteers in the show’s history. He performed many characters in the show, including Phoebe, while being the understudy for Kevin Clash’s Elmo.

Tartaglia also performed as Ernie for the second season of Play with Me Sesame and as Oscar the Grouch for Sesame Street 4D. He became a full-time part of Sesame Street at the age of 18.

Aside from his work on Sesame Street, Tartaglia has many other credits. Tartaglia created and puppeteered the roles of Princeton and Rod in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q. which opened July 31, 2003, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical in 2004.

Tartaglia joined the cast of Beauty and the Beast as Lumière on November 21, 2006, and appeared in his own television series for Playhouse Disney called Johnny and the Sprites as creator, executive producer, and starring performer.

In recent years, Tartaglia created the series Splash and Bubbles for PBS Kids, where he voices Splash and other recurring characters, and also performed Hank in Julie’s Greenroom. Tartaglia has enjoyed a varied and acclaimed career, and brings an array of talents to the table.