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Tuesday, November 13, 2007 | 3:33pm
Elmo is a Brotha
Hear the story of the young African American man behind the Billion Dollar “Elmo” Franchise.
This one’s for all you parents out there with young children. Since before many of us were kids, Jim Henson’s puppets and the Sesame Street program has entertained and educated children of all walks of life. In the past 10 years or so the character Elmo has emerged a HUGE star evolving into a franchise of his own with merchandising like the “Tickle Me Elmo Doll” and his wildly successful “Elmo’s World” series
This past weekend while babysitting my “Son” (long story), I was searching the web for some Elmo interactive video or games that I could play with him. (He’s a HUGE fan and becomes the quietest little zombie when Elmo hits the screen.) Anyway I made a shocking discovery (at least to me) that ELMO is black…nah really. The man behind the adorable but perpetually 3½-year-old monster is a young black dude name Kevin Clash.
The surprising baritone, Clash discusses the importance of his race and how parents are shocked at what they see and children bypass the man and speak directly to the monster. On a recent interview on the Oprah Winfrey show, Clash said that most fans expected him to be short, white, bald and bespectacled. Quite ironic. A very interesting story. Check out the video as Australian television talk-show host, Rove McManus, interviews Kevin.
FILED IN Entertainment, TV
